Korea? WW1?

[PFactorDave]

Must been with the early war planes sorry abut that.

Some WW1 aircraft did in fact have a gun mounted on the top of the wing.  The German's developed the interruptor gear that allowed pilots to fire through the prop without blowing the prop apart.  It wasn't long after the Germans started using cowl mounted guns that the Allies also began installing them.  I might be wrong, but I believe that the British captured a downed German aircraft and essentially stole the technology.

Here is a photo of an SE-5a, which was a pretty successful British fighter, with a wing mounted Lewis gun.

[BaldEagl]

Some WW1 aircraft did in fact have a gun mounted on the top of the wing. 

The Neuport also had a top mounted gun but the fact remains that most were cowl mounted.

[PFactorDave]

The Neuport also had a top mounted gun but the fact remains that most were cowl mounted.

Wasn't disagreeing, just adding some info to the conversation.

[mechanic]

one cool thing about those SE5s was you could slide the gun down that bar so it was pointing up to belly shoot bombers. I think also that the model which found success at dogfighting also had a single cowl mounted vickers. could be wrong.

[PFactorDave]

one cool thing about those SE5s was you could slide the gun down that bar so it was pointing up to belly shoot bombers. I think also that the model which found success at dogfighting also had a single cowl mounted vickers. could be wrong.

Also necessary for reloading the gun with a fresh drum.

[mechanic]

didnt know that, must have been a cold job standing up at 5000ft, or could they do it all seated?

[PFactorDave]

didnt know that, must have been a cold job standing up at 5000ft, or could they do it all seated?

Can't really tell in the image that I posted, but I believe that they could fire the weapon via an odd remote trigger contraption.  I imagine that reloading could be accomplished while seated, but the pilot probably had to stand up briefly to toejam the Lewis gun down the rail so he could reach it while seated.

[Chalenge]

No it could be unlatched from the seated position and the grip was in easy reach of any normal sized man. I believe all Se5s had two guns the cowl mg being the opposite side of the fuselage in the picture you posted. It would be very difficult to fire and fly if the mg were released for reloading but I suppose it could be done. I doubt many bombers or fighters were so unwary as to sit still for that and even when both guns were used the top gun fired parallel so there was no convergence. The Se5 was a great BNZ plane and once slow it didnt turn exceptionally well. Fokker DVIIs would have their way with them having more engine and more concentrated fire power (guns that converged).

[glock89]

Some WW1 aircraft did in fact have a gun mounted on the top of the wing.  The German's developed the interruptor gear that allowed pilots to fire through the prop without blowing the prop apart.  It wasn't long after the Germans started using cowl mounted guns that the Allies also began installing them.  I might be wrong, but I believe that the British captured a downed German aircraft and essentially stole the technology.

Here is a photo of an SE-5a, which was a pretty successful British fighter, with a wing mounted Lewis gun.


(Image removed from quote.)

Yes i knew they had them thanks.