WTFIT????

Drogue stowage on Dakota NZ 3546, also has blister (like astrodome) on cargo door for winch operator to watch proceedings.

oh comon, JATO was a pretty good guess, so I might have been wrong but.........

can you explain what each cylinder held etc. how the whole system operated for us.

I'd hate to try and get the mod package for that approved in this day and age!

As a newbie I have only just found this thread, but as an ex-towed target operator I can tell you about what is shown in the photos of the back-end of NZ3546 and how it worked. The targets were towed for the navy ships to allow them to harmonise their radar and guns and try to shoot the target.

The "spikes" shown in the second photo are mounts for electro-magnetic release units, they are also on the lower containers as well. The larger top containers each held a rolled-up, red, radar-reflecting, 30 foot sleeve drogue fitted with bungee cords hooked over the rear of the container to assist in launching. Tied into each rolled-up drogue was a long flat release on the end of a length of steel wire cable with the release hooked through the drogue towing ring.

In each of the smaller lower containers was a rolled-up small (about 3 foot) "messenger" drogue with a short wire cable and towing ring.

Directly inside the aircraft's large cargo doors and mounted in the luggage area was fitted the electrically-operated drogue towing winch with over 6000 feet of steel wire cable. Attached to the back-end of the winch was a four-tube cable guide which passed through the toilet area (you had to step over it for a pee) and was attached to the front-end of the square-section tube, the back-end of which passed out of the aircraft immediately below the tail cone and was fitted with four rollers.

Each drogue cable passed through its corresponding messenger ring before being pulled up inside the aircraft through the tube. The number one drogue cable was connected directly to the swaged end on the winch towing cable with the other three drogue cables pinned to stow points at the forward end of the four-tube cable guides ready for use if the first drogue was shot off.

As mentioned by Shorty the main cargo door was fitted with a transparent dome below which was a fold-down seat for the target operator, he sat right beside the towing winch. Alongside this station were the release switches for the drogues and messengers.

Once the operating area was reached, usually in the Hauraki Gulf or off the Bay of Plenty, the first drogue was released and paid out under control of the winch brake (which usually emitted heaps of smoke) until 6000 feet of cable was reached. The aircraft would then fly a race-track pattern well forward of the ship and the target operator would watch the fall of shot (usually 4.5 inch) to make sure it was around the target and not migrating up the cable. If the target was shot off its messenger was released which flew down the cable and hooked onto the target release, then the cable was wound in, that target's swaged end released into the sea along with its messenger and the next drogue cable connected to the winch cable and then it was released and paid out.

If the drogue was not shot off by the end of the exercise it's messenger was released which flew down the cable, tripped the drogue release which dropped the drogue into the sea and hooked itself onto the release. The winch was not powerful enough to wind in the cable with the drogue attached and the messenger (which was a lot smaller) stabilized the cable end while it was wound in. As the drogue release reached the aircraft and was pulled up the tube it tripped and released the messenger into the sea. We then proceeded to beat-up the ship, if a C-47 could be said to "beat-up"!

I hope the above makes some sense. It does sound a bit complicated and believe me it could be complicated and things didn't always go according to plan, but looking back it was fun if not a little exciting.

Cheers,
Al.
  
     

Yes very interesting Al. Quite a few of us engineering types like this sort of detail.

Of interest the target winch in NZ3546 came from Avenger NZ2504. When we were rebuilding the Avenger in the late 1970s we managed
to find the winch still at Ohakea on the retirement of the Dakotas so go it transferred for re-installing in the TBF as the
original plan was to return it to the Target Towing colours, which was done before it was repainted to current scheme

I suppose the only thing that might be different between the Vildebeest and the Avenger might be the electrical system? But I'm sure if anyone is going to make something work it's a Kiwi! I would love to see a photo of the winch either in or out of either aircraft type (Vildebeest, Dakota or TBF)

Oh that made me laugh............be cool to think a bit of Vildebeest was still marching on somewhere in the Air Force!