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2.
The Use of Inertia Links on Very Low Altitude Barrage Balloons
Inertia
links were special links that were designed to cut the cable when impacted by
an aircraft. This meant that any sudden jerk on the cable would cause a blank
cartridge inside it to fire off and causing the link to break free from the
flying wire. This meant that the balloon had to be let up and hauled down on
the cable very smoothly. Accidental severing from the cable was always a
problem.
Essentially
they were metal cylinders measuring 7/8 of an inch (22.23 mm) and 4 ½ inches
(114 mm) long .
They
were of two types:
1.
Double Acting.
If
the links used were double acting , they were fitted to the flying wire with the
weak caps toward each other. That is that the weak cap of the upper link points
downward toward the winch. The weak cap of the bottom link points upward toward
the balloon.
Above -
Double Acting Inertia Link
Above
-
Functioning of Double Acting V.L.A. inertia link
Single
Acting
If
the links used were single acting, they were fitted to the flying wire with
the weak caps set up pointing away from each other. That is that the weak
cap of the upper link points upward toward the balloon. The weak cap of the
bottom link points downward toward the winch.
Above -
Functioning of the single acting V.L.A. Inertia link
Above
- Here are the component parts of an Inertia Link
However,
there was realisation that the cable could be made more lethal by placing an
explosive charge on it. Much experimentation took place to refine this concept.
In
September 1939 the Royal Aircraft Establishment moved this research work from
Sussex to Exeter and opened a research unit at Pawlett, Somerset. Here tests
were made on the efficiency of balloon cables at cutting into aircraft and
refining of the use of ex plosive charges on the balloon cable. This resulted in
a number of variations where lessons were learnt from the outcomes of collisions
of both allied and enemy aircraft in the first 3 years of the war. By 1943 the
system was considered to be as best as it could be. The cables were fitted with
two explosive inertia links that activated a cable cutting device when activated
by a cable strike. On the cable being cut it would make a “V” shape over the
aircraft wing and the smaller stabilising parachute with its bomb at the top
would be pulled away from the main flying cable and open and the larger medium
duty parachute at the bottom would also pull away from the flying cable and
open.
This
produced the Bomb and Parachute Arming Scheme
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Here to See 3. The Bomb and Parachute Arming Scheme
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