Ball Turrets...

[SSgtHam]

Kind of a small insignificant wish, but just as an added effect, maybe whenever the landing gear is down on a B-17 or B-24, have the ball turret be up in the fuselage, while when the gear is up, the ball turret would be in the down position.  Noticed this today when landing a B-24, ball turret hit the ground as soon as the wheels did.  Just a tiny, stupid wish

[SKYGUNS]

well the b24 had a ball turrent that would be pulled up into the plane when taking off or landing, however, the b17s turrent was fixed, couldnt be raised or lowerd, thats one of the reasons there were so many deaths in the ball turrent in a b17, if the landing gears and ball turrent were damaged and the gunners door was jamed, wich happened often, and the gears wouldnt go down the gunner would be crused to death during the belly landing....


although this is a gas RC aircraft belly landing it still shows a good example of wat would happen to the ball turrent

[Pannono]

why couldn't the gunner climb out of the turret if they knew they had to belly land?

[lyric1]

why couldn't the gunner climb out of the turret if they knew they had to belly land?

Door jammed would be my guess.

[Spikes]

well the b24 had a ball turrent that would be pulled up into the plane when taking off or landing, however, the b17s turrent was fixed, couldnt be raised or lowerd, thats one of the reasons there were so many deaths in the ball turrent in a b17, if the landing gears and ball turrent were damaged and the gunners door was jamed, wich happened often, and the gears wouldnt go down the gunner would be crused to death during the belly landing....


although this is a gas RC aircraft belly landing it still shows a good example of wat would happen to the ball turrent

(Image removed from quote.)

What's a turrent?

[Larry]

The door to the ball turret only opened when it was in the right position. If the hydraulics were shot out he couldnt get out. Some of the time when it was out that ment the gears didnt work properly.

[colmbo]

well the b24 had a ball turrent that would be pulled up into the plane when taking off or landing, however, the b17s turrent was fixed, couldnt be raised or lowerd, thats one of the reasons there were so many deaths in the ball turrent in a b17, if the landing gears and ball turrent were damaged and the gunners door was jamed, wich happened often, and the gears wouldnt go down the gunner would be crused to death during the belly landing....

While it is true that if circumstances caused the gunner to be trapped in the ball during a gear up landing things would be bad, statistically the ball turret was the safest place to be in a B-17.  That being said, those guys had cajones.  I've been in a ball turret on the B-24 inflight -- weird feeling hanging below the airplane.

I'm pretty sure the ball turret was electric, not hydraulic, and it has manual cranks to train and elevate if needed.  For the hatch to open to the interior of the airplane the guns must be pointed straight down.

The landing gear on the B-17 is also electric.  The only thing on the B-17 that is hydraulic are the cowl flaps and the brakes.

[Larry]

Then why would vets say that they were hydraulic?

[hubsonfire]

Hydraulic actuators, electric pump.

[Chewybacca]

hee hee   

[SKYGUNS]

hee hee   

(Image removed from quote.)

GOOD EXAMPLE CHEWYBACKA

[DPQ5]

why couldn't the gunner climb out of the turret if they knew they had to belly land?

yep normally when it would jam the ball turret would be in a differant spot then it started in, 2 get out the door has 2 be directly up not blocked by the belly, and normally it would

[splitatom]

why couldn't the gunner climb out of the turret if they knew they had to belly land?

you can only open the turet if it was in a certain position which is why so many died in it

[Guppy35]

If you see a photo of a 17 in flight with the guns pointed straight down with the ball turret, it means the gunner's hatch is inside the plane and the gunner may be inside the fuselage not the ball at the time.

If you watch some of the more well known gun camera footage, you'll see the ball pointing straight down.  It's a pretty good sign the gunner has been told to vacate the ball because they are abandoning the plane.

B17 ball was not retactable, B24 ball was.  In the Pacific, more often then not they removed the ball and had tunnel guns instead.  This was common practice with the 5th Air Force 24s

[Ack-Ack]

What's a turrent?

It's another word for turret.


ack-ack