T-12 General Purpose Bomb

T-12 General Purpose Bomb. Air Force Armament Museum. The T-12 aka Cloudmaker was designed to weigh 42,000 lbs, the practicalities of manufacturing drove the weight to 43,600 lbs, 41% (17,600 lbs) of which was high explosives. The resulting bomb was nearly twice the size and weight of the Grand Slam. The bomb was 200 inches long, 54 inches in diameter and assembled from six sections of steel welded together. At a total length (with tail assembly) of 322 inches, the T-12 was not merely a scaled up Tallboy or Grand Slam it had emerged as a purely American bomb design. Several improvements were made by the Ordnance Corps. Engineers at the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground. , , The long length of the weapon made it impossible to stow completely inside carrier aircraft during world war two. In the summer of 1945, Boeing Aircraft Corp at Wichita, KS modified B-29A S/N 44-62263 to carry one T-12. the bomb was partially exposed beneath the aircraft. Six inert casing drops at an altitude of 25,000 ft were made on March 5, 1948. The B-36, first flown in 1946, had enormous bomb bays that could easily carry two T-12s bombs. On January 29, 1949, B-36 S/N 44-92043 flew a 2,900 mile round trip from Ft. Worth, TX to the Muro AAFB bombing range dropping two T-12 bombs from 35,000 ft and 40,000ft. The Army Ordnance Dept. placed a wartime order of 100 bombs. The A.O. Smith Corporation produced 57 casings by the time of the contract cancellation and program termination on August 11, 1954. , , Specifications T-12 General Purpose (GP) Bomb with T104 tail assembly , Length 322 in with T-104 tail assembly , Diameter of body 54 in , Weight 43,600 lbs , Explosive type Tritonal , Weight of explosive 17,600 lbs of Tritonal , Fuze, Nose M103 or M103A1 , Fuze, Tail M102 or M102A1 - three separate fuzes , Launch Platform B-29 (modified) and B-36 Aircraft , , This bomb is part of the USAF Heritage Program Collection , Do Not Climb, Sit Or Stand On Any Static Display Exhibit .