First Air-dropped Bomb Article Index for
First
Website Links For
First
 

Information About

First Air-dropped Bomb




In 1912, during the Balkan War , Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of airplanes to drop "bombs" (as Grenade s were called in Bulgarian army at this time) on Turkish positions. Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of Grenade s and increasing their payload. On 16 October 1912 the observer Prodan Toprakchiev dropped 2 of those bombs at the Turkish railway station of Karaagac (near the besieged Edirne ) from an Albatros F.II airplane piloted by Radul Milkov . This was the first use of an airplane as a bomber.

After number of tests Simeon Petrov created the final design, with improved Aerodynamics , an X shaped tail and impact Detonator . This version was widely used by the Bulgarian Air Force during the Siege Of Edrine . Later copy of the plans was sold to Germany and the bomb, codenamed "Chathaldza" ("Чаталджа") remained in mass production until the end of World War I .

The weight of the bomb was 6 kilograms. On impact it created a crater 4-5 meter wide and about 1 meter deep.