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Posted: 3/7/2015 6:22:08 PM EDT
What was this gunner's position called?
It appears to be a very odd angle and I can't imagine many German fighters were hit from here. Whoever sized the ammo feed box perhaps agreed? Also, it looks like the gunner would be in the way of a much more important crew member: the bombardier. Curious if anyone has any info on this as I have often wondered about it. 
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Posted: 3/7/2015 6:31:54 PM EDT
[#1]
Would either be the Navigator (if they had one. Most times the Bombadier was the Nav.) or possibly the Radio man. This would only be when the Bombadier was busy doing the bombing.
Radio man had a gun added typically firing straight up throught the green house or sky light just behind the cockpit. This was only for the earlier models. I think by the G and H models the "chin" turret had been installed that only the Bombadier would use because nobody else could get to it. |
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Posted: 3/7/2015 6:34:29 PM EDT
[#2]
If the guy on the right is the Bombardier, then the other crew member would be the Navigator. Also in the B17E and F models that gun would have been a .30 caliber Browning. The weak point on the B17 was the lack of firepower forward. This wasn't solved until the B17G model with the addition of the powered chin turret with twin .50 caliber Brownings.
Vulcan94 |
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Posted: 3/7/2015 8:05:46 PM EDT
[#3]
The bombardier isn't always sitting there. He is just there on the bomb run, and in many of the bomb runs the only bombardier who was using the sight was the formation lead.
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Posted: 3/7/2015 8:09:10 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The bombardier isn't always sitting there. He is just there on the bomb run, and in many of the bomb runs the only bombardier who was using the sight was the formation lead. This. Also, enemy fighters hit from ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE. The SOB's that flew those runs had balls the size of watermelons....and most were just "kids" by today's standards. |
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Posted: 3/7/2015 9:05:12 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The bombardier isn't always sitting there. He is just there on the bomb run, and in many of the bomb runs the only bombardier who was using the sight was the formation lead. I believe the bombardier was only in position on the bomb run. Also the bomb run was often in heavy flak and the enemy fighters didn't follow the bombers in on the run. They waited outside the target and got them outbound. |
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Posted: 3/7/2015 11:10:09 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If the guy on the right is the Bombardier, then the other crew member would be the Navigator. Also in the B17E and F models that gun would have been a .30 caliber Browning. The weak point on the B17 was the lack of firepower forward. This wasn't solved until the B17G model with the addition of the powered chin turret with twin .50 caliber Brownings. Vulcan94 The heaviest gun most Lancs was a 30. |
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Posted: 3/7/2015 11:14:35 PM EDT
[#7]
The G model got a dual 50 nose turret because enemy tactics would do a head on strafe. Which is what I would have done as well.
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Posted: 3/7/2015 11:23:00 PM EDT
[#8]
we need more YB40's
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Posted: 3/8/2015 9:47:35 AM EDT
[#9]
Just finished the book "A Higher Call". The Luftwaffe pilot in it said they learned to attack from the front since it meant less guns shooting at them.
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Posted: 3/8/2015 10:42:29 AM EDT
[#10]
Not to derail my own thread, but why the the B-29 have so few guns?
Flew higher than the fighters could? |
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Posted: 3/8/2015 10:57:00 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not to derail my own thread, but why the the B-29 have so few guns? Flew higher than the fighters could? Advanced fire control. Yes, higher than the effective ceiling of many, but not all fighters. Saga of the Superfortress is a good read on the B29 program... |
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Posted: 3/8/2015 11:01:21 AM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
What was this gunner's position called? Nose Gunner. |
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Posted: 3/8/2015 11:09:08 AM EDT
[#13]
Google images for B17 crew positions
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Posted: 3/8/2015 11:46:27 AM EDT
[#14]
If you look closely, past the red ink, you'll see SIX .50s in the chin turret. Sorta' solves the lack of forward firepower problem, eh?
Supposedly one of the many experimental firepower add-ons tried on the XB-40 / YB-40. At least four different chin turrets were developed. More YB-40: 
Or you could try putting a 20mm in the nose. 
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Posted: 3/8/2015 12:34:45 PM EDT
[#15]
That photo looks staged no oxygen masks or cold WX gear
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Posted: 3/9/2015 10:15:12 AM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
That photo looks staged no oxygen masks or cold WX gear http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/world-war-ii-pilots-and-planes/gunners-in-bomber.jpg No headphones either. |
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Posted: 3/10/2015 6:55:11 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
That photo looks staged no oxygen masks or cold WX gear http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/world-war-ii-pilots-and-planes/gunners-in-bomber.jpg From the looks of it, they're not at that high of an altitude. Probably shot on a training run for PR purposes. |
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Posted: 3/21/2015 5:58:13 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
we need more YB40's The problem with the YB-40 was that when the rest of the B-17s dropped their bombs they couldn't keep up. And a YB-40 was just as vulnerable to the German fighters when alone, even with the extra firepower. Vulcan94 |
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Posted: 3/21/2015 6:58:04 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not to derail my own thread, but why the the B-29 have so few guns? Flew higher than the fighters could? The B-29 had the same number of guns as a B-17G and one of its thirteen guns was a 20mm. |
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Posted: 3/21/2015 6:36:22 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Advanced fire control. Yes, higher than the effective ceiling of many, but not all fighters. Saga of the Superfortress is a good read on the B29 program... Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Not to derail my own thread, but why the the B-29 have so few guns? Flew higher than the fighters could? Advanced fire control. Yes, higher than the effective ceiling of many, but not all fighters. Saga of the Superfortress is a good read on the B29 program... Some time ago I got to go into the cockpit of the B-29 "FiFi". IIRC, the tour guide said that the advance fire control could put 70% of the .50 cal round on target. That would make for a very bad day for any attacking fighter. Vulcan94 |
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