WW II B-17G bomber nose gunner inside view by danapommet
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Description
The nose gunner’s position from the inside. This is a better shot of the cheek guns – both 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns on either side of the nose. Thanks to info from (CHUTER), the navigator could use these during a bombing run since the nose gunner was usually the bombardier also. I’m guessing that the desk area on the left was the navigator’s station. The area under the stool is the chin turret. As Richard (RichardPhotos) pointed out, there was no heat in this aircraft and it was cold at higher altitudes. The crew was working in very confined areas with a heavy jacket on – plus an oxygen mask.
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 (23)
mgtcs
WOW....Amazing, gorgeous informations and as usual a great photo!
hartafire
Was't much for protection
Faemike55
Cool photo series and wonderful information
blinkings
Oh wow what a great POV. I've never seen it from this angle.
MrsLubner
I am totally fascinated with this. I can imagine what it must have been like on a mission...the energy...the tension. I've never seen this area before outside of movies and even then they usually have actors all in the way of my view. LOL
Katraz
Great shot.
jendellas
Wow Dana, this feels quite eerie. Those guns!!!! Glad you go to these places as something I would never get to see otherwise.
sandra46
marvelous!!!!!!!!!
0rest4wicked
Outstanding POV!!! From it I could see the workings of the area before reading the narration.
DAVER2112
Really cool shot! I've never seen the inside of one of those. Love your new avatar. :)
flavia49
fantastic and fascinating!!!! My father was at the "receiving side" of the bombers' load. He told me that usually he stayed on the supposed target (like a Railroad Station or a bridge) and, when he saw the bomber leader blowing the smoke signal, he (my father) used his right arm and thumb in order to see if the smoke was covered or not by his thumb. If it was "off" the thumb, he usually remained on the target since he was sure that the bombs will drop far away from the target itself. He survived about 300 bombings on the Gothic Line (Italy), some were precision bombings others "carpet bombings". Since I can tell you the story, his system worked very well !!! ;-)!!.
BessieB
Amazing series Dana, incredible to think of what life would have been like.
kbrog
Great capture! Think about the view from that seat when it's flying.
JaneEden
How amazing it would be to sit in there and up in the air too. Excellent photo and intro Dana, thank you! hugs Jane xx
Osper
A great series of references!
chuter
Wow - excellent lighting, not too much contrast and no distractions outside. Really nice shot.
goodoleboy
Stellar lighting and not overcontrasted so the equipment and interior are easy to see, Dana. I've crawled through an earlier model version of this aircraft, and it was no picnic. Really hard, spartan and uncomfortable inside. Bombs away!
MagikUnicorn
Gorgeous view from inside Thanks...but a dangerous job ;-)
beachzz
Not an easy job, for sure, these guys were a very hardy, brave bunch!!
Alex_Antonov
Excellent!
jocko500
wow this is something to see
Chipka
There is a part of me that wants to see this as the interior of a super-advanced spacecraft...but that's just because I'm such a Science Fiction geek. I like this photo quite a lot because of the amazing details you've captured, and what really strikes me is the rather mundane shape of the seat; it's so WWII era in visual blandness. Not like anything on a warplane has to look fancy and "pretty." It's all there to do a job and nothing more. I like that little bit of visual "trivia." The whole image works so perfectly together and for as hard and angular as some of the surfaces are, it's a rather warm photo...even if there's no internal heating--not a necessity on ground level (unless it's winter) but a sorely missed thing way up in the upper atmosphere. This is great work.
debbielove
Amazing shot.. Thanks for this.. Along with ALL the difficulties already mentioned, there would be Red Hot bullet casings flying around (RAF bombers had collection bins and chutes) AND being at the front of course, Luftwaffe aircraft generally made their first attack run from head on.... As you can imagine, this caused allot of frantic shooting and praying as the bombers stuck to their boxes unlike RAF bombers (they developed a tactic called 'The Corkscrew' which was ..exactly what it was..Throwing a bombed up Lancaster inn an action like a corkscrew!) B-17's did not move.. So if the fighter got through, and hit their target, it was the nose they aimed for... Great shot.. Rob