Talk:Fat Man

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Good articleFat Man has been listed as one of the Warfare good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Featured topic starFat Man is part of the History of the Manhattan Project series, a featured topic. This is identified as among the best series of articles produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
October 12, 2013Good article nomineeListed
May 29, 2018Featured topic candidatePromoted
On this day...Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on August 9, 2004, August 9, 2005, August 9, 2006, August 9, 2007, August 9, 2008, August 9, 2009, August 9, 2010, and August 9, 2012.
Current status: Good article

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From Russia with love.[edit]

This is one very detailed 8-min technical video on the Fat Man, created in 3D-CGI by some russians on a fundraiser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2cmOZGRIew 193.91.93.31 (talk) 15:28, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

The Lancaster could not carry the "Fat Man" bomb![edit]

The critical dimension of the fat man bomb was 60.5" plus the thickness of the bomb bay doors and or the fuselage side walls. Since there was not enough clearance to carry the bomb inside the plane and still have the landing gear touch the ground to allow take off, it was physically impossible for the Lancaster to carry the fat man bomb! It's not a question of weight, but of critical dimension, weight and balance once the weight was attached, however temporarily to the plane. The bomb bay doors can not close on the 34" diameter "Tallboy" bomb so a special streamlined fairing would have to be constructed. But the gear still have to roll to let the plane take off. Thus the Lancaster can not carry the fat man bomb which must be suspended from the center of aerodynamic pressure at approximately the 25% wing cord point. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:3230:ECD0:8D0A:3CC2:7FB1:D583 (talk) 17:10, 28 October 2019 (UTC)

So you checked the source and what did it say?

The only existing Allied bomber aircraft which could, without major modifications, carry a device of these dimensions were the U.S. Boeing B-29 and the British Avro Lancaster. The Lancaster had longer range than the B-29, and would require fewer modifications to carry nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, the B-29 was selected as the bomb carrier, partly because maintenance problems would have made the British bomber impractical to operate from American bases and partly because General Groves wanted the first atomic bomb to be delivered by an American aircraft.

— Hansen, p. 120

Letter dated 25 March 1944 to Major General L. R. Groves from Norman F. Ramsey, Jr.; memorandum dated 18 May 1944 to W. S. Parsons from N. F. Ramsey, subject: Matters for Discussion by Military Use Committee. The B-29 bomb bay suspension equipment used to carry the FAT MAN was essentially British "F and G" equipment, which had been developed to carry 12-ton bombs in Lancaster bomb bays. (Relation Between the Various Activities of the Laboratory, Samuel K. Allison, LA-1006, December 23, 1946, Volume 0, Chapter 3, p. 3. Hoddeson, et. al., p. 379; NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: THE STORY OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, Lt. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, USA, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1962, p. 254.

Hansen cites Hoddeson: "The British had a candidate that could have been modified for bomb use, the Lancaster. Capable of carrying the largest British bomb, (the 12,000 Grand Slam blockbuster), the Lancaster's bomb bay was rough as long as the plutonium gun bomb [Thin Man], but had a smaller diameter." (p. 379)
And Groves: "I said that if the B-29 could not be used, we would have to consider the use of a British plane, the Lancaster." (p. 120)
What sources do you have? Hawkeye7 (discuss) 18:33, 28 October 2019 (UTC)