Phoning It In

swegener:

The Sunderland flying boat had an unusual method for delivering bombs and torpedoes. Because it was a flying boat it had to deal with the corrosive effects of salt water, as well as the issue of keeping its hull watertight. 

Rather than a ventral bomb hatch, as in conventional bombers, the Sunderland had a bomb room where ordnance would be loaded into a track-mounted carrier. A spring loaded hatch would deploy inward, the carrier would ride the tracks across the top of the cabin, and then out under the wings, where the bombs could then be dropped from.

The She Devils have modified this system to act as a pirate recovery system. She Devils returning to the Tigermoth simply match speed with the airship and grab one of the cables that have been integrated into the bomb carrier system. Once the line is secured to their flight harness they can safely shut down their jetpack and be hauled onboard without the risk of their pack’s exhaust setting fire to the Tigermoth.

To make egress less difficult the She Devils have done away with the spring-loaded hatches and cut out a larger hole in the Tigermoth’s hull.

Loving seeing this stuff. The amount of thought they put into this book is why Atomic Robo is one of the best books on the stands.