T-16 S/N 5399 T.D. 97377 Restoration

[horsa]

Shot of the British Towed 4.2-Inch Mortar after setting it up for firing this past weekend. The manuals officially refer to it as a Mobile Base Plate for the 4.2-Inch Mortar and Mounting but what do they know...

This fires the 30-pound bombs that were transported in the cardboard carriers stored in the bins over the tracks on the T-16 (message # 46 in this thread on page two for reference).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HD_-b3FM3I

Short video linked above shows one of the bombs being fired at a 70 degree angle into a 15-20 mph gusting wind. We did this in conjunction with light launching charges to keep the bombs in a 350-400 yard impact range for easier recovery. The smoke coming from the bomb's nose in the video is to help track the shots and has nothing to do with the bomb firing in case it appears that I'm walking with a lit fuze. The bombs are actually launched with a cartridge in the tail unit in conjunction with a firing pin in the bottom of the mortar barrel which initiates once the bomb drops to the end.