military aerial gunnery training

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picsivore

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Hi Guys, I was wondering if any of our older Canadian vets from WWII who went through gunnery training remember how, where and what type of firearms they used when in training.

Thank, I look forward to reading your reply's!
 
This is what I trained on. Not sure you'd class it as a "firearm" but it sure was good for hitting aerial targets. :) It was wicked fun to shoot as well. Biggest fricken machine gun you ever pulled a trigger on. :cool:

A_35mm_Oerlikon_gun.jpg
 
They make a very unique sound when firing because the barrels fire at slightly different rates so they go in and out of sync.

Those big muzzle brake looking things are actually individual chronographs attached to the end of each barrel. The system knows how far away the target is (laser range finder) and the angular spin rate ofthe platform so it can calculate the lead required to hit the distant target. At the gun fires it adjusts the lead depending on the muzzle velocity of the rounds. All that happens constantly during the burst.

One of the coolest things I ever saw was a flashover on the gunners cabin. During a long burst unburnt powder gases build up around the breeches and gunners position and they can flashover. During one long burst we saw the gunner engulfed in a giant ball of flame. Panic ensued ...... but when they dragged the gunner out he hadn't even noticed.
 
xKATOx Both I suppose ground to air or air to air. I am intrigued on what shooting equipment was used early in training especially shotguns. I've been doing a little research myself, but cannot find any information on how Canada performed that training. I can find more information on the process the Americans used. Trap and skeet were used to get gunners accustomed to tracking leading and following through (smoothness emphasized). The yanks used a number of shotguns, but mostly Remington 10 and 11's Winchester Model 12's and Browning Auto - five's. I have a shotgun I suspect that was used in Canada for this particular purpose.
 
I found an old recruitment movie the Americans made in 1943 starring "The Penguin" of Batman TV series fame Burgess Meredith. Here is the movie short (20 mins) he starred in called Tail Gunner. Actually he is a real gunner from the second war and reached the rank of captain. He was discharged when he did a movie called GI Joe in which he played war correspondent Ernie Pyle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im1-hU-i-w0
 
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