well I found this out from a former Air Force armament loader when I asked him about napalm. Well he told me that to get the tanks to tumble end over end (which happens to be the most effective way to distribute the napalm in the impact site as noted by the films of various combat jets on napalm runs ) the ground crews would physically remove the fins at the end of the tank. Leaving the fins on would only cause a wobble (pitching up and down). Well I hope this somewhat clarifies things and might help with accurizing the After Market and kit supplied Napalm tanks.
thanks for the good tip!!
matthew
W-S, NC
P.S. Go Tarheels!!
The BLU 27 Napalm tanks came in two configerations. The finned and un finned. The un finned tanks were used when accuracy wasn’t inportant. For close air support the finned tanks were prefered because they could be put on target. The FRAG would specify which tanks were to be loaded. An aircraft on CAS alert would be loaded with CBU’s and BLU 27 finned napalm.
Truck busting on the Ho Chi Mhin trail the load would be CBU’s, MK 20’s or BLU 27 finned napalm. The un finned tanks would only be used where a large area needed to be covered with accuracy secondary.
I know of some crews that did not like to drop the un finned tanks as they have been known to hit the mother aircraft when they start to tumble.
Berny I believe all the BLU-27’s were all finned because if there were any unfinned variants wouldn’t there at least be something of those in the AM weapon sets.
The BLU 27 was shipped empty as a kit. The nose cone and fins were installed after arrival by the bomb crew. I have seen BLU 27 flown without the nose cone or tail fins. I have also seen them with nose cone and tail cone installed, without fins. You would not find them mixed loaded on a aircraft. All would be the same type loaded.
The BLU 27 finned was the most common type flown. I remember back in the 70’s model companies would release only the un finned type with their kits.
As to why companies now only release the finned type, I don’t know. It is easier to remove the fins than it is to install them.
DO YOu want to see how i did the red strip in my napalms 1/72 ???