Can someone name this plane?

[Boroda]

Originally posted by SELECTOR
looks russian to me

The gun is much bigger then Soviet UBT.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by SELECTOR
looks russian to me

And the flight gear the gunner is wearing is definately U.S.

Dan/Slack
It's a 24

[SunTracker]

Top turret gunner on an Me-262

I concur.

[glenmorangie]

Not a B-24, the side windows aren't right. And there's a twin-gun tail turret right behind the position, no gun needed here.

It is, however a Browning .50, so probably not French, Russian, German or other.

PBYs have "round" fuselages.

P2V maybe?  Boston?

What the heck kind of airplane has windows like that in the lower fuselage?

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by glenmorangie
Not a B-24, the side windows aren't right. And there's a twin-gun tail turret right behind the position, no gun needed here.

It is, however a Browning .50, so probably not French, Russian, German or other.

PBYs have "round" fuselages.

P2V maybe?  Boston?

What the heck kind of airplane has windows like that in the lower fuselage?

Hard crowd to convince I see

Found proof that my first thought was the correct one.  Images from Glen Horton's massive work on his father's bomb group, the 380th "The Best of the Southwest".

The gun in the photo is in place of the ball turret.  As I mentioned in my first post, they often took the ball turret out of 24s in the Pacific as they tended to get too dirty operating from the airstrips out there.  They placed a .50 in it's place as a 'tunnel gun"

Note that it is in front of the waist and has windows added as a field mod in front of the waist, next to where the ball turret had been. They still have the windows behind the waist down low as well, where the rear entrance hatch is. The windows next to the ball turret tunnel are what we see in airbumba's image next to the gunner.  So in fact this is more then likely a late model D, H or J model,  modified for work in the Pacific with the 5th AF.

Glen Horton's Dad was the pilot of "Lil Nilmerg", shown in the profile.  (Nilmerg being Gremlin spelled backwards)

Dan/Slack

[justin_g]

In this photo http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b24d-8.jpg you can see side windows on a B-24D that are the same with the horizontal bracing in the middle.

Also in this image http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/Images/B-24/B24ARM.gif you can see the gun position with the X shaped bracing and the same relative location to the waist gunner.

EDIT: I posted before the post above - seems to me that for the above configuration to be the one in the photo, the tunnel gunner would be pointing his gun forwards, and the photographer would have to be standing in the bomb bay?

I think its from a B-24C - they had the tunnel gun located to the rear of the waist gun, which makes more sense when you can see the waist gunner in the background of the photo.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by justin_g
In this photo http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b24d-8.jpg you can see side windows on a B-24D that are the same with the horizontal bracing in the middle.

Also in this image http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/Images/B-24/B24ARM.gif you can see the gun position with the X shaped bracing and the same relative location to the waist gunner.

EDIT: I posted before the post above - seems to me that for the above configuration to be the one in the photo, the tunnel gunner would be pointing his gun forwards, and the photographer would have to be standing in the bomb bay?

I think you had it right the first time!

He is pointing the gun forward.  You can see the waist gunner behind him as the photographer is looking back from the area right behind the bomb bay.   I've flown in the Colling's Foundation B24 and there is an area right there.  The Colling's foundation B24 has seats for the passengers in that area behind the bomb bay and in front of the ball turret.  

In Pathfinder B24s the radio man was in the area above and behind the Bomb bay while the radome for the radar was in the place of the Ball turret.  There is definately room for the photographer in the photo

It's definately a tunnel gun in place of the ball turret.  Note the bracing on the side windows that match what is seen in the profile.  The windows behind the waist don't have that, which confused me when I thought the gun might be placed next to them

I really thought it was behind the waist because I could see the windows on early B24 photos, but that would put it right in place of the rear entrance/escape hatch.  It didn't make sense that they would block that off as that is where the tail gunner in particular bailed out from.  He'd have to get all the way to the bomb bay otherwise, and in a damaged, burning about to explode aircraft, that's a long walk.

Having researched a B24 crew that was shot down, I know the tail gunner had it down to seconds in how he rolled out of the turret, strapped on his chestpack and rolled out that hatch.  They practiced it and if he'd had to go all the way to the bomb bay, he'd have been killed.

Added another image.  Yes it's a profile but it does show the tunnel gun pointed forward.  There are numerous profiles done in the book with about half showing the gun pointed forward.  

Dan/Slack

[storch]

Originally posted by glenmorangie
Not a B-24, the side windows aren't right. And there's a twin-gun tail turret right behind the position, no gun needed here.

It is, however a Browning .50, so probably not French, Russian, German or other.

PBYs have "round" fuselages.

P2V maybe?  Boston?

What the heck kind of airplane has windows like that in the lower fuselage?

PB2Y Privateer was the Navy's version of the B-24 with some modifications.

[justin_g]

really thought it was behind the waist because I could see the windows on early B24 photos, but that would put it right in place of the rear entrance/escape hatch. It didn't make sense that they would block that off as that is where the tail gunner in particular bailed out from.

I'm still not convinced - note that the gun in the photo has hinges on the right side and a locking lever on the left side - the original tunnel gun location was the same place as the escape/entry hatch you speak of.

Other possible evidence(or speculations) I can present are:
 
1. The tunnel hatch appears to slope upward towards the cameraman, which could explain why the empty casings are piled up at the lower end near the gunner.

2. In the background behind the gunners shoulder there is something that looks like the toilet, which was just behind the bomb bay.

At least we can agree that it is indeed a B-24!

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by justin_g
I'm still not convinced - note that the gun in the photo has hinges on the right side and a locking lever on the left side - the original tunnel gun location was the same place as the escape/entry hatch you speak of.

Other possible evidence(or speculations) I can present are:
 
1. The tunnel hatch appears to slope upward towards the cameraman, which could explain why the empty casings are piled up at the lower end near the gunner.

2. In the background behind the gunners shoulder there is something that looks like the toilet, which was just behind the bomb bay.

At least we can agree that it is indeed a B-24!

OK Justin, I swung back the other way.  Your observation about the slope of the hatch sent me back to the books.  I found this picture of 80th BG, 5th AF B24D of CO Art Connell. It was the first with a tail turret in the nose and had the other 5th AF mods like no ball turret.  Note the different window next to the area in question.   I'd almost be willing to bet the interior photo was taken in this bird as it would have been to show the different mods and Connell and Gen. George Kenny (both in the photo btw) needed all the pub they could get since they were fighting for resources with the ETO and Med.

So I'm now convinced it's a mod over the rear escape hatch.  Not a B24C however as there were only 9 of those and not combat aircraft like the D and on.

Bet it's an early D model.  See image here:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b24d-7.jpg
Caption points out the tunnel gun position on the early D
Dan/Slack

[justin_g]

I originally thought only the B-24C had the tunnel gun, but a little research showed this:

B-24D first 76 built: no waist or ventral guns.
B-24D next 287 built: Bendix remote controlled retractable ventral turret with periscopic sight(which was virtually unusable)
B-24D-15-CO: ventral tunnel gun installed.
B-24D-25-CO/10-CF: waist guns installed.
B-24D-140-CO onwards: Sperry retractable ball turret installed.

So it would seem that the majority of B-24D's built(from block 15 to 140) came out of the factory with the ventral tunnel gun fitted.

B-24D-5-CO 41-23765 "Connells Special" was the first B-24 fitted with a Consolidated A-6 tail turret in the nose. It was flown by Major Arthur Rogers, later CO of the 90th BG. There are pictures of this plane in both olive drab and later in bare metal here:
http://www.b24bestweb.com/connellsspecial1.htm (nose, OD)
http://www.b24bestweb.com/connellsspecial2.htm (tail, OD)
http://www.b24bestweb.com/connellsspecial3.htm (nose, bare metal)
http://www.b24bestweb.com/connellsspecial4.htm (it looks like it has 3 rc turrets and no nose turret in this photo?!)
http://www.90thbombgroup.org/41-23765.jpg (same as above, better quality)

This page has a description of how the tail turret was first installed in the nose of the B-24 by the 90th BG: http://www.ploiesti.net/page11.html

I found the same photo as you on the web - you can see that the plane has a ventral turret(looks like the rc type) - look behind General Kenney: http://www.90thbombgroup.org/Tail_+Kenney.jpg

[Guppy35]

It's possible, based on the full view of Connell's Special in Silver that the image was taken was after it was converted to train B29 gunners.  It wouldn't have had the RC turrets prior to that.

The biggest thing from the photo I posted was the windows near the rear hatch/gun that had the framing like what we see in Airbumba's photo.  THe other images of the windows on the earlier B24s don't show that same sort of framing.

Interesting stuff either way.  I like it when it makes me learn something new

Dan/Slack

[airbumba]

Great info guys, thank you for that, . I never knew enough about the B 24, thanks to your info I've read up more on it, very nice aircraft.