I am building the Aviation Usk SM 84 and decided to open up the bomb bay. It was then that I ran into a question. Using Ali D'itialia #21 as a reference (it is an excellent reference) I looked for details on the bomb bay doors. To my surprise, I have more questions now than when I started. On page 37 of the book, it shows a picture of the ground crew loading bombs into an SM 84. The bomb bay is open (a man is standing on the ground with his upper torso in the bomb bay) but there are no doors on the bomb bay.
Did the doors slide up into the bomb bay on each side (like a B-24) or did it "roll up" to the rear? The second possibility comes to mind from the cut away drawings (pages 55-58) at the back of the book. In each drawing, it shows a motor (?) and rolled something (?) at the back of the bomb bay. The drawing on page 58 shows what seems to be a chain link (?) running the length of the bomb bay floor leading up to the gears on the motor. If the doors retracted to the rear, why do the drawing show a traditional split bomb bay door from the outside? The only reference to the doors in the book is that the "- the undersides closed by shutters- ". Sorry this is so long. It could be the one picture in the book is an anomaly and the SM 84 had traditional bomb bay doors. Hopefully someone with more pictures or manuals can solve this for me. Thanks in advance.
Shane
SM 84 Questions
Thank you for the clarification. I assumed that the dotted line was depicting a chain drive to be pulled back by the spindle or could it be showing an articulation along the bomb bays door? If the bomb bay door opened by being rolled up in the back of the bomb bay, then I assume that (1) the door would be one piece and not split down the middle as shown in most diagrams and that (2) the door would have to be articulated (like the side gunners window covers) to bend in the tracks to roll up. I have not seen a close up of the bottom of the A/C to confirm that. Can someone help? Thanks again for the help.
Shane
Shane