Ball Turret Gunner Life Expectancy

A german patrol boat happened to arrive first but allied p 51. And the ball turret gunner could not escape from his position unaided. This tortuous position had to maintained perhaps for five hours or more of flight.

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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 when this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below he revolved with the turret.

Ball turret gunner life expectancy. The turret held the gunner two heavy machine guns ammunition and sights. The ball turret gunner was one of the most dangerous assignments in world war ii. The life of a ball turret gunner. On the b17 the turret retracted to allow the gunner to get in or out and was lowered into position when the mission was about to get hot.

A ball turret was a spherical shaped altazimuth mount gun turret fitted to some american built aircraft during world war ii the name arose from the turret s spherical housing. The tail gunners combat life expectancy was 4 missions the ball was the only position where many died without a shrapnel or gunshot wound. But sacrificed engine life and reliability. Bomber crew survival rates during the war.

While it may fit you will have about 1 2 the life expectancy. It was a manned turret as distinct from remote controlled turrets also in use. Squeezed into this transparent dome ronald a rear gunner in 115 squadron spent many hours a night flying backwards in cramped freezing and solitary conditions. The turret machine guns stuck into the cramped bubble and the knees of the unfortunate gunner had to brought up almost touching the gunners chest.

Hunched upside down in his little. Ball turret gunners on b 17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. While in their life raft the crew could only wait to be found either by ally or enemy. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman s.

Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted there was no hiding from enemy attack. The tread depth on the d402f front is 5 32 where as the d402 rear is 9 32. I just put a new front tire on at 13k some get 20k. Jarrell who served in the army air forces provided the following explanatory note.

This tiny turret right at the tail end of a wellington bomber is where my grandad spent much of the war. The life expectancy of a b17 ball turret gunner was less than that of the other aircrew for several reasons. Discussion in air war in western europe 1939 1945 started by buckusmc jan 31.