Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
I always wanted a Gau 8 mounted in a tank chassis, not that but these are better looking than the Gepard, and even the York
Nice, but could you afford to feed the Beast ?
Grizz
I believe I read that if a B17 had to make a "Belly Landing".
They would jettison the bottom gun turret first so it wouldn't F'up the fuselage....
The Wizard
CGN Regular
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
I do not believe the ball turret of a B17 can be jettison in flight. I do know the ball turret of a B24 can be "sucked" up into the plane.
Not A Ross, it has a turned down bolt. P14 or older LE.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Gleaned from the internet: The procedure for dropping the Sperry ball turret from a B-17:
It's all smiles now, but that'd be a cramped, cold, loud place to fight a war.
It's all smiles now, but that'd be a cramped, cold, loud place to fight a war.
"From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose."
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"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. It is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft.
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose."
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"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. It is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft.
Cottage Hill Bill
CGN Regular
- Location
- Pensacola, FL USA
The B24 turret retracted into the fuselage. Gunner entered when the ball was retracted then the ball was lowered. In the B17 the ball was rotated until guns were pointed down, then the hatch could be opened. If the hydraulics on either one failed and the ball couldn't be rotated the gunner couldn't get out. If the landing gear couldn't be lowered that usually meant the ball couldn't be rotated or retracted and the turret got scraped off along the runway along with the gunner.
One of my uncles was in pilot training when they came through and said "We've got enough pilots to finish the war, go across the airfield to the aircrew training, you're all aircrew now." He was about 5'5" and probably 140 pounds. The instructor walked along the formation, pointed at him and said "You'll fit, you're a ball turret gunner." He spent his war in a B24 bombing Japan and the home islands. His whole crew made it through. Starting right after the war they had an annual crew reunion. They kept it up until my uncle and one other crew member were the only ones left. They met one last time and said their goodbyes. I had the good luck to have the Collins Foundation B17 and B24 stop at our airport when he was in town for a visit. We took the walk through of both planes but obviously it took him a little longer in the B24.
One of my uncles was in pilot training when they came through and said "We've got enough pilots to finish the war, go across the airfield to the aircrew training, you're all aircrew now." He was about 5'5" and probably 140 pounds. The instructor walked along the formation, pointed at him and said "You'll fit, you're a ball turret gunner." He spent his war in a B24 bombing Japan and the home islands. His whole crew made it through. Starting right after the war they had an annual crew reunion. They kept it up until my uncle and one other crew member were the only ones left. They met one last time and said their goodbyes. I had the good luck to have the Collins Foundation B17 and B24 stop at our airport when he was in town for a visit. We took the walk through of both planes but obviously it took him a little longer in the B24.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Daphne Du Maurier
Daphne Du Maurier, her husband 'Boy' Browning & their children.
Daphne Du Maurier thought up the Pegasus heraldry for the British airborne flag. She also picked the maroon colour for the berets as that was her husbands racing colour.
An upper classman & suitable wife!
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fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Well acting like Operation Market Garden was going to be a resounding success - mostly a fantasy. I suppose he was going along to get along with Montgomery. Hell of a thing to read up on.
Sperry Retractable Ball Turret, Sperry 250SH-1
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/AirGunnery/TURRETS5.html
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/AirGunnery/TURRETS5.html
It could be argued that "Boy" Browning was better at fiction than Daphne.
One has to wonder, seeing he's British, how he acquired that nickname.
Grizz
