Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: lyric1 on February 26, 2017, 05:07:15 PM
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Interesting photo showing how they trained the gunners on the JU-88.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Junkers%20JU-88/14611092_10209339153190143_1765943263470397924_n_zpsrdoxtpvu.jpg) (http://s1002.photobucket.com/user/barneybolac/media/Junkers%20JU-88/14611092_10209339153190143_1765943263470397924_n_zpsrdoxtpvu.jpg.html)
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You would think that they would have figured out how ineffective the gunner were on enemy cons attcking them from behind.
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Why would you think that?
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Limited line of sight compare to let's say B-17 tail gunner.
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It's a compromise (as with anything in aeronautical design). The Jerries had a completely different design philosophy that didn't allow for placing one man alone in a turret far from the rest of the crew. For psychological reasons the crew compartment was designed so that the entire crew would be fighting back-to-back like in a foxhole, where they could give each other mutual support and keep each other's morale up. It's a philosophy that was studied and to a large extent adopted by the western allies after the war. The experience of being a tail gunner in a U.S. or British bomber was defined by loneliness and mortal terror.