Bombing Above 500

Jet bombers are great for speed, but they have not done so well at dropping bombs accurately. At speeds above 350 m.p.h., the bombs were apt to tumble or fall erratically, go wide of the target.

Last week North American Aviation, Inc. announced that it had licked the problem by fitting its four-jet B45 Tornado with new-type bomb-bay doors. Instead of swinging open, they slide into the plane like overhead garage doors. The falling bombs hit a smoothly flowing airstream instead of the uneven eddies stirred up by the old-style doors. Even above 500 m.p.h., all the bombs fall alike, a necessity for good marksmanship.

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