re: #263 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo

Trivia note: The bomb bay dimensions of the B-52 were originally set by a requirement that it be able to carry the Grand Slam bomb internally and not, as often assumed, by the dimensions of early atomic bombs, which were much smaller.

The B-series Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron (“The Dambusters”) that flew the Tallboy and later Grand Slam missions were heavily modified — the “earthquake” bombs were carried in conformal configuration, half inside and half outside the fuselage and all the defensive weapons and some of the armour was removed to save weight.

This version of the Lancaster was a candidate to carry out the nuclear bomb attacks on Japan in 1945 as the Silverplate nuclear-capable versions of the B-29 had a difficult development. The original B-29s had two bomb bays, one in front and one behind the main wing spar that ran through the fuselage. They needed a single large bomb bay to handle the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs but the wing spar was in the way and it needed to be relocated to make space. Conversely the Lancaster had limited range so experiments in in-flight refuelling were carried out but in the end the Silverplates were ready in time for their nuclear missions.

There’s a good summary of this secret history in a Youtube by the excellent Mark Felton.