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NOS ball turret...get some!!

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  • Member since
    June 2014
NOS ball turret...get some!!
Posted by BrandonK on Sunday, August 8, 2021 12:33 PM

I ran across this the other day and I have to say I would do this in a heartbeat. Not many people have the chance to climb into and fire a fully functional WWII ball turret. Simply amazing that any still exist today.

BK

On the bench:

A lot !! And I mean A LOT!!

2024 Kits on deck / in process / completed   

                         14 / 5 / 2  

                              Tongue Tied

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Sunday, August 8, 2021 12:59 PM

That looks great!

 

$4K for everything. Better than I expected, but still a lot!

 

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Orlando, Florida
Posted by ikar01 on Sunday, August 8, 2021 1:08 PM

Now that would be a real fun day.  Also expensive.

I wonder if he could do the dame thing wityh a B-52D tail gun.  At one time I put in for a cross train to tail gunner but never got to class.  They did send me the books for the course but I ended up stayingin the Security Police.  I even talked to one of the bomber squadrons on the base but there was no openings even for getting some studying with the gunners there.  Too busy with the war and so on. 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Sunday, August 8, 2021 1:22 PM

Bomber camp... sounds like fun!

shooting .50's is always a good time! 

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    August 2019
  • From: Central Oregon
Posted by HooYah Deep Sea on Sunday, August 8, 2021 1:31 PM

After watching the video, you quickly realize why you don't want an air battle going on over you; all that brass and links come 'a rainin on down' everywhere!!! Not to mention the fired bullets that don't get caught in something, which is a good percentage.

"Why do I do this? Because the money's good, the scenery changes and they let me use explosives, okay?"

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Sunday, August 8, 2021 1:42 PM

HooYah Deep Sea

After watching the video, you quickly realize why you don't want an air battle going on over you; all that brass and links come 'a rainin on down' everywhere!!! Not to mention the fired bullets that don't get caught in something, which is a good percentage.

 

Not to mention FLAK & SAMs... that stuff all has to come down somewhere.

But speaking of brass raining down, I always loved that scene on Blackhawk Down where the Pave Hawk door gunners are firing their mini guns at the bad guys and showering the Rangers below in hot brass. If you've ever had hot brass get under your collar and body armor, you can sympathize...

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    May 2020
  • From: North East of England
Posted by Hutch6390 on Sunday, August 8, 2021 2:19 PM

stikpusher
Not to mention FLAK & SAMs... that stuff all has to come down somewhere.

My dad was a boy during WWII, and one of his enduring memories is the clattering noise that AA shell fragments made when they fell, and skittered down the sloping slate rooftops during air raids.  Collecting pieces of shrapnel was a big pastime among boys of his age.  No SAMs in those days, thankfully!

Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?

   

TakkaTakkaTakkaTakkaTakkaTakka

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by keavdog on Sunday, August 8, 2021 2:58 PM

That looks like a great time!  And I shoot a rifle left handed so I've had brass and powder burns but I couldn't imagine that kind of volume raining down on you!

Thanks,

John

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Sunday, August 8, 2021 3:30 PM

1600 rpm times $ 3 per round = $ 4,800 per minute, or $ 80 per second.

Expensive but fun.

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Sunday, August 8, 2021 3:51 PM

...but you have to squeeze yourself INTO the turret before pressing the "play" button!  And then you will find yourself lying on your back, sighting the guns between your legs, and firing the guns using triggers located above your head, like a biker riding a chopper with "ape hangers"!

Oh and for us older gentlepeople - getting OUT afterwards!  Maybe they put a cushion below the hatch and just let you kind of fall out.  Indifferent

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    July 2016
  • From: Malvern, PA
Posted by WillysMB on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 11:18 AM

Many years ago when I was helping with Fuddy Duddy, just after Geneseo acquired her, we miraculously found a ball turret - and this was pre-internet. The top turret was really hard to find and we had a lousy looking plexiglass piece for a long time. We went in with the other B-17 owners to have a number of bomb aimers nose pieces made. There was a restaurant out in California with a B17 on its roof that actually had an intact top turret that I think went to Sentimental Journey.

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 10:36 PM

Awesome!  I'd do this as well.  I can't believe my grandfather did 13 missions in one of these.  He wasn't short either.  Thanks for the video Brandon!

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

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