PHOTO GALLERY
This item was a part of USS Bennington.
The question was
"WHAT IS IT AND WHERE WOULD IT BE FOUND
Lonnie
Here is the results:
TENSION BAR
Subject:
Answer to - WHAT IS IT
From:
Lonnie [Lonnie@uss-bennington.org]
Date:
9/14/2011 7:57 AM
To:
USS Bennington Crew
I would like to thank ALL of you for helping me out with this.
I had NO idea what it is or what it is used for.
There were MANY good answers.
Here are just a few of the answers I received.
Well gang, the votes are in and we had two guys that knew what it is WITH GREAT DETAIL.
The answer is
It is a dwarf's bar bell found in the forward mess deck after mid rats.
No, that isn't it.
Here is a little detail:
Hold back bolt. It shears when the right pressure from the catapult is reached and the aircraft launches.
PJ Mullendore
Bob Ash thinks it is the breakable bolt on the catapult, when they launch the plane, it breaks right in the middle.
It is part of the catapult launching system.
Flight deck people used to throw it over the side after the launch.
Bob Ash
OI Div. 57-60
RD3
Lonnie:
That is a part of the Holdback Mechanism for S2F's that holds the
aircraft in place as it is winding up in preparation for catapult launch.
As the catapult is fired, the middle section breaks and the front half
goes with the aircraft and the remaining section, which stays on deck with the holdback,
is discarded by the catapult crew, usually, over the side,
and a new piece is inserted in preparation for the next aircraft.
Regards,
Mike Culhane
PS I would be shocked if the Catapult Guys like Bill Coughlin did not know the answer!
It's call a TENSION BAR and it's used to hold back a S2-E when it is on the catapult and ready to launch.
The plane goes to full power and when the cat is fired and pressure reaches 46,000 lbs it breaks and the aircraft is launched.
One half in locked in the plane and the other is locked in the holdback unit it self.
There are different sizes and colors for each different types of aircraft and they break at different pressures.
I have used this bar many times on the Bennington
Bill Coughlin ABE-1 (AW) USN (RET)
--
Lonnie,
Just thought it would be fun to let you know that I enjoyed seeing your "what is it" quiz on the tension bar.
My dad was a manufacturer of tension bars for several aircraft types for the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
He made some of the bars for Kitty Hawk's maiden voyage out of Philadelphia from New York Shipyard.
He took me to her commissioning when I was a young girl in 1961.
I have one of the tension bars (A-3 Skyhawk maybe) he made (and had chromed -- he was very proud!)
along with a complete bomb shell (also chromed), for which he made the nose cone but not the body.
I worked for him for a few years and will always remember the sense of urgency that overtook our shop
after receiving a telegram from ASO in Philadelphia saying, "Fleet in jeoparpdy. Ship now."
Relatively few people in the whole wide world know what a tension bar is or the important role
it plays in our naval and aviation missions. (Aircraft overboard?)
Thanks for making me smile.
Go Navy.
Best regards,
Lynn McDevitt
Sent from my NOOK
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