For WW2 buffs!

[difalcojr]

I learn something new every day in PF, even fundamental stuff. Thanks. 'Gas station' bombs, no wonder the explosions were so violent. I wonder if the Japanese suicide bombers in the Pacific loaded up their aircraft with extra petrol for more explosive power too? i don't think I ever heard of that. What a world!

 

[Drakkith]

. I wonder if the Japanese suicide bombers in the Pacific loaded up their aircraft with extra petrol for more explosive power too?

You bet they did. They commonly loaded their planes with bombs and extra gasoline tanks to maximize the destruction. Though the gasoline is less explosive and more "coat everything within 20 yards of the impact with burning fuel".

 

[Baluncore]

Indeed. It was and is quite common for the hollow spaces of the wings to be used as fuel tanks in aircraft of all sorts.

That is the case because it is the lift from the wing that must support the fuel tanks in flight. By placing the tanks in the wings, the total fuel load can be increased without having to increase the spar structure in the wing roots.

The undercarriage can then be mounted from the wing structure, so the heavy wing tanks are supported prior to and during takeoff.

Takeoff is fuelled from centre tanks in the fuselage, that will not unbalance the mass distribution at a critical time during the initial climb.

Multi-engine aircraft benefit from having fuel available close to the engines in the wings. That reduces the cross-flow of fuel through the aircraft.

 

[Baluncore]

The petrol bomb has become the 'Fuel Air Explosive'. The initial impact and explosion is designed to disperse and mix the fuel with air, without ignition of the fuel. A second charge is then ignited to initiate combustion of the approximately stoichiometric air-fuel mix that may have been drawn into cavities and ventilation systems. Following the AFE pressure wave, there is a partial vacuum that adds to the destruction, hence the parallel term 'vacuum bomb'. That is the mechanism used in today's thermobaric weapons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon

 

[Drakkith]

The petrol bomb has become the 'Fuel Air Explosive'.

True. Plane crashes typically spread burning liquid gasoline/petrol everywhere rather than disperse and then ignite it in a fuel-air explosion.

 

[difalcojr]

Memorial Day today in U.S. A photo from WWII in Europe, returning those to ship.

 

[DennisN]

Four years ago, the youtube channel The Great War started producing weekly videos detailing the events of World War 1,

Regarding World War 1 I recently heard about a weird, crazy tank design that never made it to the frontline. I hereby give you: the Tsar Tank.

Looking like a plough with wheels measuring 9 meters in diameter, it may not have been effective in combat, but maybe it would have stunned the enemy into utter confusion.