Ball Turret Gunner B 24

Kush who lives in key largo fla was a ball turret gunner on a b 24 that flew bombing missions over austria france and germany. Staff sergeant ralph j. The result is something like this incredible footage that mixes a modern fisheye view with the wwii era bomber.

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The ball turret gunners were a breed apart.

Ball turret gunner b 24. In the case of the b 24 the liberator s tricycle landing gear design mandated that its a 13 model sperry ball turret have a fully retractable mount so that the ball turret would always be retracted upwards into the lower fuselage while the aircraft was on the ground providing ground clearance with it in the stowed position. Cassiday 32346219 new york killed in action radio operator. On a b 24 liberator the ball turret was hoisted into the fuselage for takeoff and landing. Houtchens 37483248 nebraska killed in action.

The view from a b 24 ball turret by jonathan charlton military aviation october 23 2014 take a gopro put it on the end of a b 24 liberator s 50 caliber ball turret and take the old bird for a spin. Leffelman 19112019 washington killed in action waist gunner. Some b 24s had a ring gun instead of the ball turret. The sperry ball turret meant for ventral defense needs on aircraft was used on both the b 17 flying fortress and the b 24 liberator as well as the united states navy s liberator the pb4y.

Staff sergeant james d. Suspended in their pot metal cacoon on the underside of the b 17 and b 24 bomber these men had to deal with three of man s main fears heights enclosed spaces and death while at the same time defending their ship from intense enemy attack. Hunched upside down in his little sphere he looked like the fetus in the womb. A ball turret was a plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a b 17 or b 24 and inhabited by two 50 caliber machine guns and one man a short small man.

Staff sergeant william h. A ring gun consisted of two 50 caliber machine guns which could be manually moved along a circular track mounted to the floor around the opening in the floor of the aircraft. The sperry ball turret was very small in order to reduce drag and was typically operated by the shortest man of the crew. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below he revolved with the turret.