Glomb, Bomb, or Drone - the Unmanned Eastern Aircraft Wildcatshttp://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.msg134386#msg134386As discussed in the
SuperCat thread (link above), Eastern Aircraft carried out a range of remotely-controlled 'flying bomb' conversions of
Wildcats. The early conversions were quite extensive with the entire rear fuselage being made removable. This was necessary to accommodate a bulky payload made up of three bundled 250-lb HE bomb bodies mounted behind the former cockpit.
The former cockpit area housed Radioplane radio equipment and the batteries displaced by the explosives. All unnecessary equipment was removed to save weight - including the main undercarriage (and, usually, the tailwheel). Intended for use as unmanned 'reverse-
kamikazes', these 'flying bombs' were to be launched from warships' catapults and controlled from accompanying Eastern TBM-1
Avengers. Although the system worked well, these pilotless '
kamikazes' proved vulnerable to naval anti-aircraft fire. Most of these aircraft would be expended against hardened land targets during Operation
Olympic.
The first 'flying bomb' conversions were based on Grumman F4F-4 or Eastern FM-1 airframes. These conversions were given the 'glide bomb' cover designation LBM-1 while, at the same time, being redesignated in the fighter sequence as FM-7s. Later 'Glomb' conversions were based on the FM-2 airframe. These were given the cover designations LBM-2 and FM-8.
The last of the FM-8s were conversions of FM-3As. These were training variants - the FM-8A (or LBM-2A) carried no explosives and retained its undercarriage. Even so, these training missions were one-way flights. Take-offs using the Radioplane controls were comparatively simple, landings were judged impossible. By far, the more common FM-3A conversion was the manned FM-8B. [1] These were piloted for take-off and landings but controlled during their simulated missions by the accompanying TBM.
[
Bottom] One of the rare FM-8A/LBM-2A 'flying bomb' trainers in its high-visibility markings.
The final series of unpiloted
SuperCats received no cover designations. These were production-line FM-5A conversions redesignated FM-5Z. [2] These airframes received typical 'LBM' mods [3] but lacked the removable rear fuselage - since a 250-lb payload could be installed without detaching the rear fuselage. That smaller payload reflected a shift in role to unmanned decoys.
The FM-5Z concept involved using the decoys to distract AA gunners by flying ahead of the main formation. In the rare event that an FM-5Z survived the flak, its controller could direct it on to a suitable target. The FM-5Z's service entry was timed to coincide with Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu. With the Japanese surrender, the FM-5Z flights were largely stood down. [4]
One exception was during the tense, last-minute operations around Hokkaido. Carrier-launched recon flights used 'bombless' FM-5Zs as 'sacrificial lambs' when reconnoitering the Soviet flotilla off that Japanese island's west coast. The Red Fleet gunners held their fire when overflown by US Navy aircraft and the FM-5Zs were flown into the sea at the end of those missions.
[
Top] Eastern FM-5Z-1 employed for reconnaissance of Soviet ships off Hokkaido, late April 1946. The FM-5Z carried standard
SuperCat camouflage with the addition of a bold white chevron over the upper wings and fuselage to aid visibility for their remote-control pilots.
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[1] There is no record of an LBM-x cover designation for the piloted FM-8B model conversions.
[2] In USN designations, 'Z' was an Administrative application. In the case of the FM-5Z it was applied to give maximum role flexibility to the program.
[3] A minor difference was that the LBM series' screw-on equipment hatch was replaced by a piano hinged arrangement. FM-5Zs could be distinguished by their rear 'destruct' antennae. Used in an emergency to destroy the decoy, these antennae took the form of either a tail boom or a trailing wire antenna.
[4] The vast majority of FM-5Zs were 'debombed' in the postwar era and expended as aerial targets for naval gunnery practice. These aircraft received an all-over bright red paint scheme and were redesignated as TDM-1 and TDM-1A target drones (depending upon the exact equipment fitted). The TDM-2s were FM-5As completed specifically as target drones in the immediate postwar period.
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