WW II B-17G bomber nose gunner close up by danapommet
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Description
This is the same B-17G Flying Fortress World War II bomber as my previous postings. The nose gunner controlled four 50 caliber (12.7mm) machine guns. Two were fixed – one on each side. He also controlled the chin turret which has the two red tipped 50 caliber machine guns. The red tips only function, was to prevent tall people, from walking into them, while the plane is on display. The amazing part, of this setup, is that the nose gunner was also the bombardier. So when the actual bombing run started, the nose guns were abandoned so the bombardier could set up the target and release the bombs. Five hundred pound bombs for a total of 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) for short range missions (less than 400 miles) and 4,500 lbs (2,000 kg) on long range missions up to 800 miles. On this model, the pilots could fire the two fixed machines during the bombing runs but not the chin turret. This photo was taken January 22, 2010. Some data from The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft and/or Wikipedia.
Thanks for stopping by, taking a look and for all your previous comments and favs.
Dana
Comments (17)
mgtcs
Wonderful shot and a gorgeous POV Dana, love it!
Madbat
These were the coolest planes imho.
blinkings
Great shot and thanks for explaining what the red tips were for.
Faemike55
fantastic photo and information! thanks for sharing with us, Dana
Katraz
Great detail thanks for sharing.
chuter
The cheek guns were/are flexible and were manned by the navigator. The red muzzle flash hiders (also used on the tail guns) used on the chin guns were an attempt to try to keep the muzzle blast from cracking the Plexiglas nose bowl when firing at max elevation as the initial G's kept cracking the pointy F style nose bowls they originally came with, forcing a move to blunter -as illustrated- nose bowls. Flash hiders were rarely -if ever- used on flexible (hand operated) guns -other than the tail guns- because of the aerodynamic loads. An excellent shot. Good details of a well equipped aircraft. The control wheel for the chin turret is in the stowed position to the picture upper left of Plexiglas edge and the triggers and safeties can just be made out. When deployed it would be swung down to just above the bomb sight. Photos of G models in action generally show the chin turret traversed far right -so gun barrels wouldn't be in the way of the bombardier- and with guns max elevated -so they would be out of the way on the ground- when not in use. Sadly, not one of today's B-17's is so displayed. owell
Erestorfan
The gunner certainly had a very busy job!! Nice POV
jendellas
The guns closeup look quite scarey. Your pics are always so clear & interesting, Dana!!!!
MagikUnicorn
WOW GREAT VIEW
goodoleboy
Stellar POV of the awesome armament up front, Dana! I was going to ask whether the bombardier also served double duty as a nose gunner, but see you supplied that info in your narrative.
Richardphotos
canon rocks and your talent behind the scenes
sandra46
excellent !!!!!!!!!
flavia49
magnificent POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kbrog
Excellent POV and capture!
tennesseecowgirl
wonderful details Dana, thanks for sharing all these.
jocko500
real good pov
Chipka
Oh, I absolutely love the POV on this and the wonderful military details. I can see the inspiration for much of the stuff in Star Wars in this, but that stands to reason, the best examples of science fiction make some reference to real life, though in the case of Star Wars, such details were begged, borrowed, and stolen from real life. Oh well. Great work on this and I love the angle you've chosen. It's quite arresting. It's rather like looking at the complex stinger array of a very large and very complicated wasp!