I've heard more than one person tell me this and reading through the Super Buff gunner thread got me thinking about it. Picture this:
B-17 at 25k, running at 180mph heading 090. If the right waist gunner [firing on heading 180] starts shooting at a target here's what is happening. Every round he's firing is fighting a 180mph sidewind, really throwing off accuracy. Now if the nose gunner starts shooting, every round he fires is fighting a 180mph headwind. Naturally this reduces the effective range of every round. On to the tail gun; every shot he fires has an advantage...180mph tailwind. This INCREASES both accuracy and effective range. Here's what a B-47 pilot said about tail guns:
"The problem that MIG fighters faced against us was the wind. See, we could shoot at them before they could even get within gun range. Believe it or not; it was the wind. Every time he fires at us his bullets have a 500 knot headwind to fight. Now our tail guns could fire out to a longer range, and with more accuracy, because they weren't fighting that 500 knot headwind. They had a 500 knot wind alright; but it was coming from behind. We could just sit there, if we wanted to, and shoot down MIGs as long as our ammo held out. "
Granted, a tailwind for a tail gunner means some help. But in order to gain 400 yards of accurate firing range our B-17 would have to move around at close to 270mph indicated airspeed. Consequently, the nose guns, ball and top turrets should have a slightly reduced max effective range due to that wind.
If anything, the added wind effects on the ballistics of each round is a little off. The tail guns shoot too far, there's not enough dispersion from a waist gun when firing sideways etc...
Just for reference: a .50 caliber round drops 3 feet below the point of aim at 500 yards. This is sitting still on the ground with only gravity acting, so imagine what would happen at 25,000 feet and 180mph.
Flakbait
