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All I want for Christmas is to shoot twin .50s from a ball turret

3,015 Views | 19 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Old Sarge
CanyonAg77
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AG
Oh. My.


cuz-i-can
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That simulated bombing mission sounds like fun and it's tax deductible...
BCO07
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I want to go to bomber camp
BreNayPop
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Shwing
Mathguy64
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Holy mother of god. I wonder if they can fit my fat ass in there?
Aggie Farmer
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My Dad was a nose gunner on a B24 in WWII. His plane was shot down over Poland, they parachuted and were captured. Spent time in Stalag Luft IV prison camp. I don't believe he would want to crawl in there and bring back those memories. Our local Bellville VFW Post is having a program in the morning to honor all the remaining WWII vets. He just turned 94 and will join 4 to 5 others there tomorrow. God bless the Greatest Generation!
MemphisAg1
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Aggie Farmer said:

My Dad was a nose gunner on a B24 in WWII. His plane was shot down over Poland, they parachuted and were captured. Spent time in Stalag Luft IV prison camp. I don't believe he would want to crawl in there and bring back those memories. Our local Bellville VFW Post is having a program in the morning to honor all the remaining WWII vets. He just turned 94 and will join 4 to 5 others there tomorrow. God bless the Greatest Generation!
FSGuide
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Aggie Farmer said:

My Dad was a nose gunner on a B24 in WWII. His plane was shot down over Poland, they parachuted and were captured. Spent time in Stalag Luft IV prison camp. I don't believe he would want to crawl in there and bring back those memories. Our local Bellville VFW Post is having a program in the morning to honor all the remaining WWII vets. He just turned 94 and will join 4 to 5 others there tomorrow. God bless the Greatest Generation!


One of my remaining uncles was a belly gunner in one of the aircraft in WW2. He had a lot of missions. I doubt he'd want to crawl in there either.
On a side note, his brother is a USS Indianapolis survivor. I don't think he's been on a boat since then either.
CanyonAg77
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I suspect it's a lot more fun without flak, fighters, and the possibility your 1930s era technology aircraft might fall out of the sky. Also, you can shoot a couple of hundred rounds and go home, as opposed to an 8 hour mission in freezing temps, and 24 more before you can go home.
malenurse
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I'm way too big. And way too claustrophobic to even attempt something like that.
The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But, it's still on the list.
JonSnow
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I heard the tail gunner on the B17 had to ride and fire sitting on his knees the whole way and didn't have enough room to even wear a parachute.
SJ1987
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Hey I know this is wayyy off topic but three years ago you had a hit and run situation. The one where you had the paper tags and some guy found out the information you needed. Did he by chance ever tell you how he did that? I'm in the exact situation and was looking for some help. Thanks!
Kenneth_2003
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Flew in a B17 this summer. My first thought as i settled into the radio room was how thin the skin of that plane was.
CanyonAg77
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SJ1987 said:

Hey I know this is wayyy off topic but three years ago you had a hit and run situation. The one where you had the paper tags and some guy found out the information you needed. Did he by chance ever tell you how he did that? I'm in the exact situation and was looking for some help. Thanks!
Start a thread giving the story or send a PM to FS guide
CanyonAg77
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JonSnow said:

I heard the tail gunner on the B17 had to ride and fire sitting on his knees the whole way and didn't have enough room to even wear a parachute.
I wasn't sure about this. On Googling, it appears he sat on basically a bicycle seat, and rested some weight on his knees. I'm not sure about the parachute, but, he would have had to exit the tail gunner seat to bail out, and move forward to a hatch. Maybe he stored a parachute and grabbed it on the way.

I will dispute the "whole way". There was no need for him to ride back there over allied-held territory, which shifted eastward during the war. And they probably knew where the fighters would be.

An uncle was top turret gunner on B-24s in the Pacific. He said that the Japanese fighters would never attack them until after they dropped their bombs. Seemed odd to me, but I was so young when I asked about those things, that I didn't have the knowledge to quiz him further.
CanyonAg77
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Kenneth_2003 said:

Flew in a B17 this summer. My first thought as i settled into the radio room was how thin the skin of that plane was.
Haven't flown, have toured on the ground. But you echo my thoughts. Growing up watching war movies, I guess I instinctively thought that the structure of the plane afforded some protection. While they did have armor plating in their seats and at the gun positions, and wore flak jackets, they were essentially unprotected.

Taking the tour, I finally understood. The aluminum skin and ribs are so thin that they crew might as well have been riding outside, for the protection it afforded against bullets and shrapnel.
Kenneth_2003
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If you get the opportunity to go up in any of those old war birds, DO IT! It's worth every penny in my opinion!
Aggie Farmer
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Here is an edited video from the World War II Veteran Appreciation program the Bellville VFW held last Saturday. It's about 30 minutes long, and worth it if you want to listen to some of their stories. Some of the audio may be low, but its the best I could do.



Bismarck
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Ball turret gunner was a bad job. The turret was only accessible in a particular position. If the hydraulics failed, you were stuck until the plane landed. If you were stuck and the landing gear failed to extend, you ended up a smear on the tarmac in a belly landing.
LoudestWHOOP!
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I don't think I would fit in there, but it would be fun to cut loose those twin 50s.

My father in law was a radio operator in B29s during Korea. He was in the rescue group that had a boat slung under the belly of the plane something like this...

One day they reached the point in the mission to test fire the 20mm cannons. After the test fire their mission went pretty much as planned circling waiting to hear if anyone ditched during their bombing run. When the bombing run completed they heading back to Okinawa. After they had landed one of the ground crew called them out to their plane and asked if they had been shot at. No! Well somehow their turret was able to sweep low enough to shoot their own wing. Luckily the fuel bladders work well on in the wing tanks. The only time his plane had ever been shot and it was their plane that did it.
Old Sarge
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I don't know if I agree with the size thing. I rode in the Collings Foundations B-17 named Nine-0-Nine about 9 years ago in Victoria when it/they came through. We could go anywhere in the plane in flight except tailgunner, pilot/copilot seat, and bottom ball turret. I looked at the door on the bottom turret and thought "no fing way" I could get in there. Would have in a heart beat, if allowed or thought I could though.

They had the top hatch open over the navigator area, and you could stick your head out the top if tall enough. Man that was cool, looking out the top in the open air watching those prop engines and hearing that sound up close and personal. Also got to crawl through the Bombay catwalk and get in the nose cone and look through the Norton bomb sights. All while in flight.

I will never forget that day.
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