The WW2 Bomber Chopped Up and Packed with Massive Guns

[@alanm.4298]

My Dad flew B29s out of Saipan in WWII. After the war and a one year break from military service, he joined the newly formed US Air Force as a pilot and flight instructor in the heavy bombers and new refueler variants (B29, B50, B36, KB29, KB50). He only occasionally got ro fly the smaller B25, but declared it was his favorite. After the big bombers, he said flying the B25 felt like going from driving a slow, lumbering bus to a quick, nimble sports car.

[@bigdeal6852]

You should be proud of your Dad and it sounds like you are. They were the Greatest generation. 😊 👍👍 🇺🇸

[@billness2635]

Having read Pappy Gunn’s biography and Jay Stouts book of being a Pilot in the Air Apaches of Gunns making, I think Pappy Gunn’s contribution to defeating Japan and defending the Philippines and his interred family needs to be appreciated by everyone!

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

@billness2635 What if you Haven't read the Colonels Biography? Would you know anything about this,? acquired Virtue?

[@erwinpadgett1050]

@@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe What if Bullfrog had wings? Biographies tell what many people don't know.

[@jlsperling1]

I read Martin Caiden's book on Gunn and I have Gen. Kenney's memoirs. I wrote a wargame scenario for the first mission of the modified aircraft with an introduction quoting Kenney and his description of Gunn.

[@jlsperling1]

*Interned. "Interred" means burying dead bodies.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

@jlsperling1 At least you did the reading. Why not build the model especially if Tamiya has a J version kit. And perhaps reading from Squadren Signal or Osprey. Have fun!

[@KeepItSimpleSailor]

Imagine, diving, your heart pumping in your ears, engines howling, crew totally focused, rounds flying past you - and you open up with this, literally all guns blazing, blowing the bejesus out of your target, pulling up as you watch and feel the explosions and damage you’ve inflicted. That would be memorable to say the least. 👍🏻

[@garryferrington811]

You should enlist!

[@mattmartin5747]

This was my first model airplane I ever put together my self and have always had a fascination with this plane from seeing it at air shows and in museum. I just saw one a month ago taking my son to his first air show and the funny part in all of that is the same plane passed over our house before the air show and my son wanted to see that plan more than anything at the show. It just goes to show the importance of showing history to young ones to help keep these birds in the sky.

[@derekmay8679]

One of mine too 😂.... I was model mad for a good while as a kid ... Mosquito, spitfire, B25 Etc ....Good old airfix....

[@Del350K4]

Well said, sir! Childhood airshow memories are among the clearest in my aged mind.

[@SuperBommer1]

My Matchbox b25 till this day one of the kits I remember most fondly from when I was a kid Now I have a few 48 scale b25s to build

[@kensmith8152]

Me too!

[@pctshooter]

It was one of my first kits too! IIRC, it also had a 75mm cannon in the nose.

[@michaelholden5131]

My Dad crewed both A-20's and B-25's in the New Guinea South Pacific campaign. Both aircraft were workhorse of Gen Kenny's command. My father was awarded DFC as well as Air Medals for his more than 100 missions. At the outbreak of WW 2 my Dad was 26 years of age and went on to serve 28 years on active duty before being medically retired in 1970.

[@MichaelBethJones]

My great uncle was a top turret gunner in "Tondelayo", a B-25D from the 500th Bomb Squadron. While filling in on another plane, he ended up in a life raft with a Japanese patrol boat coming to pick him up. A B-25 swooped down and literally shot the patrol boat into pieces. The crew was picked up by a PBY whose pilot (Nathan Gordon) was awarded the Medal of Honor rescuing them. My uncle also said that the cannon armed B-25H was not as popular due to not having a co-pilot, the cannon filling the plane with smoke, and the gunner was prone to be pinned by the sighting equipment if the plane had to ditch.

[@John-kx2tq]

My Dad flew in the 500th BS, 345th BG "Air Apaches". He knew the pilot of Tondelayo.

[@douglaseuritt3919]

I worked in the Kansas City plant where North American built some of these in WWII ( GM bought the facility after the war). In the backyard there were still 2 concrete traps full of sand where they would zero the nose guns before the AAF ferry pilots would fly them to wherever they were going. The pilots lounge where the ferry pilots waited for their plane was still there too, even the chalkboards were still on the wall!

[@DavidLee-df888]

When I was *much* younger I used to read "Battle", a British war comic. A gunship Mitchell was the mount for Johnny Red, a British pilot fighting for the Russians against Germany, for a while. It was always good to see the multiple.50 calibre machine guns chopping up the bad guys...

[@GordonHouston-Smith]

I was trying to remember the name of the comic and character. Loved it. Thank you:-)

[@marine-001]

I've read a novel about these B25s. six .50 cals packed into the nose was such a massive fire power it could saw a flotilla into two with a burst of fire.

[@Avtomat4774]

The naval variants had 12 of em, plus 6 more in defensive turrets in the top, tail, and waist.

[@sandordula5207]

​@@Avtomat4774Exactly! 👌🏻👍🏻

[@ghostinchains664]

Six? The gunship B-25 had up to TWELVE forward firing 50 calibers. 4-6 in the nose plus 4 in the side blisters plus the upper turret. Some were even fitted with 8 wing mounted rockets.... and don't forget the 75mm cannon

[@ghostinchains664]

​@Avtomat4774 many had deleted turrets and waist gunner positions, especially the naval version

[@sim.frischh9781]

There were FIGHTERS with more .50s in the front. B25 could have up to a dozen. PLUS the cannon.

[@garykubodera9528]

Just imagine what kind of havoc those several-up to the 18!50cal guns they mounted caused...🤔 You could day they were the great grandfather to the A-10 warthog attack aircraft! 😀 Thanks for this great video! A disabled US Army Veteran

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Imagine the noise in the cockpit.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Proabably not much as it weighed it down and made it a sitting duck

[@russellmarriott9396]

Thanks for your service Gary 🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@richardclary6267]

​@@Rusty_Gold85 Thank you for Your Observation Crusty

[@markteaney8381]

God bless you for your service Sir.

[@anim8torfiddler871]

Every time you show a glimpse of the Doolittle's B-25s crowded on the deck of the Hornet, I pause the video and play it back hoping to catch a glimpse of my Dad, then an Aviation Chief Ordnanceman's Mate, looking for his distinctive gait. He helped load the munitions for their attack on Japan, that was the first substantial offensive against the Island of Japan of that war. I don't know if the aircrew had much conversation with the Hornet's ship complement. But my dad almost never talked about combat, although he saw plenty. He liked to talk about exploring the newly liberated islands and building a makeshift catamaran to tool around the anchorage in the lagoon. They used discarded drop tanks, and parachute cloth for the sails.

[@roadking99jokerst60]

Neat to have stories from him. Be well.

[@MakerBoyOldBoy]

Several books detail Gunn and his accomplishments. His field modifications on the B-25 and A-20 were revolutionary and created s new classification; the Gunship or Strafer. These aircraft and air crews changed the PTO.

[@TranscendianIntendor]

Indestructible is the book from which this has to be drawn. Pappy Gunn was the driving force. His family had been captured in Manila and suffered.

[@adamburge5988]

My grandpa was a mechanic, flight engineer, and sometime co-pilot (after the war) on B-25s. They flew out of the Aleutian Islands and bombed northern Japan.

[@davidzemotel4122]

I like how all the stories start with a poetic description of which way the wind is blowing lol. Great videos man, I’ve watched so many. Absolutely fascinating stories about real people who are legit heroes and put their a$$ on the line for the good of the world!

[@mmagnusol]

I remember hearing the forward firepower was so great they had to be careful of long bursts slowing the plane down so much it would lose lift. Also that they were heavily used against bases as well as shipping. More awesome than my favorite Thunderbolts.

[@brianartillery]

The stunning aerial scenes in the 1968 'Battle Of Britain' movie, were filmed using a B-25 converted to a camera platform. It's tail fins were painted different colours, so that the Spitfires, and Buchons (Bf-109), could be directed to follow the camera aircraft. The B-25 was fast enough to keep up with the fighter aircraft being filmed, and cameras on board were easily moved, and were often used from gun positions.

[@Phaaschh]

You just beat me to it! That B25 ended up at Shoreham. I remember clambering all over it in the 1970s. By that time it was semi- derelict.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

No time for Sergeants as well. Andy Griffith. Planes on the ramp. What does this have to with the Gunships on the screen?

[@Phaaschh]

@@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe der. 3 guesses.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

@Phaaschh Resorting ot Bot Gibberish?

[@stevechalmers9572]

One of my fav movies as a kid....been a plane nerd my whole life (now pushing 50). One of my favorite memories as a kid was getting to pick an attraction to see while visiting Florida (I'm Canadian). Brother picked Universal Studios. To my families dismay, 12 year old me picked an airfield/air war museum of some kind to drag them to. I was on cloud 9 for months after sitting in a mock up Spitfire used in the film. Thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever accomplish in life lmao.....

[@alexius23]

RAAF played a major role in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea

[@marine-001]

on a side note, they had to tear everything not absolutely necessary out of the cabin to lighten the aircrafts to fit it to carry six 50 cals with lots of ammo

[@superfleapilot7484]

Not true. They simply took the place of the bombarder position. Bomb sight and crew member.

[@Forge5304]

Someone was asking about it in the comments. The NA-98X: a B-25H, serial number 43-4406, modified with R-2800 engines, spinners, and squared wings. It was tried. The wings suffered catastrophic structural failure due to over aggressive maneuvers by a test pilot.

[@davidca96]

B-25's were awesome, they had so many configurations you could set them up with. I did hear that the engines damaged some pilots hearing due to position it would throw a lot of the noise right into the pilot though, so if they didnt wear hearing protection it was really loud.

[@John-kx2tq]

I've ridden in a B-25, they are very loud!

[@jlsperling1]

At the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the IJN ships initially thought the approaching B-25 gunships were carrying torpedoes, and turned their ships bow-on to the aircraft. This made their strafing runs even more effective, allowing the gunships to wreak havoc down the entire length of the ships. They were accompanied by a few RAAF Beaufighters and A-20 gunships (similarly fitted with 4x .50 guns in the nose).

[@samsignorelli]

12 forward-firing guns in the H model....that is a LOT of "fuck you" coming at you if you're downrange

[@jonnywatts2970]

Best comment! 😂 I'd be noping out real quick! That's one hell of a meat grinder!

[@tauncfester3022]

Note that although the 50 cal was big, it wasn't massive. The Bristol Beaufighter with it's 4, 20mm cannons were probably more effective and they were faster. The Japanese IJN called the Beaufighter equipped with surface attack guns the 'whistling death' and it was much more effective against the armored superstructures of light destroyers and other convoy defending ships.

[@downunderrob]

The Beaufighter was known as Whispering Death, since its engines are quieter than its contemporaries. The Vought Corsair Fighter-bomber was called Whistling Death.

[@Bigsky1991]

But the " Ma Deuce" in its fast firing Army Air Forces M4 version firing at twice the cyclic rate of a ground version M2...then quadrupled, firing incendiary and armor piercing rounds...shreds Aircraft, wrecks/ disables surface vessels.

[@Scudboy17]

Most of the targets of the B25's were commerce ships and not heavily armored warships. Even an armored ship can be crippled if 1 .50 cal makes it in through window or an open door/hatch. .50's will either ricochet off of any armored surface inside or pulverize anything not made of metal- like crew and machinery.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

@@downunderrob Which one served in the Pacific first (rhetorical Question)?

[@downunderrob]

@@Rusty_Gold85 The Beaufighter would be my guess.

[@draven7311]

My a&p instructor had on his desk a photo of a B25 gunship missing about 5 feet of it's left wing. I asked about the photo. He told me a Japanese destroyers mast got in his way. I then asked about the destroyer. He laughed and said, He sank it. Quote" the Japanese don't walk on water so good! Then he told me that the U S tax payers gave him a brand new B25 gunship. He told me that it took a lot of opposite rudder to get back to base. His name was Lewis Jerome Pence.

[@lewisdoran3750]

Crashed into the Empire State building????? And it didn't emplode like a controled demolition???? Imagine that!!!!

[@danstotland6386]

Outstanding video. With exhaustive research. Keep up the good work..

[@ageingviking5587]

I,ve always had a soft spot for the Mitchells . Like a big old pick up truck that always got er dun ! Thank you D S!

[@vincentsmidowicz2931]

Above and Beyond ~ Cracking video. Cheers

[@rogerdoering5510]

Your giving all the credit for success to the plane,I ca t help but think that the crews might have something to do with that success credit where credit is due!!!

[@deanmorris2546]

I enjoy all of your videos. They are very educational and informative. Thank you for taking the time to make them!!

[@johne4879]

I am surprised that when the 75mm gun didn’t work out, they didn’t try a 40mm Bo fours or another AA canon

[@jamesberry3230]

yes the Vickers 40mm s gun would have be ideal: 2 were used on the Hawker Hurricane for ground attack, so 4 for the b-25

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

It is interesting to note that the 2 men that designed the B25, Dutch Kindelberger and Bob Atwood also designed the P51 Mustang and the AT6 Texan, building around 35,000 total planes during WWII, the most of any American manufacture, and all three models were top performers in WWII. !!!!!

[@mantatrip9319]

this channel has become even better and kudos to whoever edits the music.

[@DrivermanO]

But they can't edit the summary. Nothing to do with B-25. Its the intro to the George Buerling in Malta video!

[@FernandoTRA]

Do not like music in this type of videos. Or at least they could turn the volume down.

[@Surfzap63]

This is the best video you’ve done in a while! Awesome work!

[@anonymousgeorge8317]

The variant of the m2 that was used for aircraft could fire up to 800 rounds a minute so if you finger it at 600 just for safety then 18 guns could put out 10800 rounds per, for comparison the gun in the a10 has a maximum rate of 3400 rounds per minute. That thing must have been terrifying.

[@mgm6708]

But that is 3400 30mm depleted uranium rounds. They aren't comparable

[@Leon1Aust]

The battle of the Bismarck sea near Papua New Guinea also had the Aussie RAAF Beaufighters with their forward firing 4 x 20mm cannons and 6 x 0.303 guns raking Japanese ships followed by USAAF B-25 Mitchell with their skip bombing technique's.

[@davekisor1486]

While Dad's guard unit was on Woodlark Island, he wanted to go on the Rabul raid and qualified as a waist gunner on a B-25. His unit moved out 3 daze before the raid.

[@Absaalookemensch]

Technically nothing prevented a .50 cal multi-barrelled motorized gatling gun from being made. Two of those with 5,000 rounds ammo each would have been a killed CAS machine.

[@theackshow5048]

My dad was on the team that built and tested the G model in Kansas City's Fairfax plant. one of the few stories he told his 4 sons was the time he was placed in charge of testing the first prototype 75mm cannon-equipped plane off the assembly line. They had modified a plexiglas-nosed unit for the test. Sitting in the bombardier's seat flying over the Fort Reilly Kansas bombing range he pulled the lanyard firing the cannon. Immediately the plane lost 25-to 50MPH forward speed and the plexiglas nose bubble blew off throwing him against the bulkhead behind him. Fortunately, he was not badly hurt. I never heard anything about what actually caused the incident, but "G" pilots I met later in life did say that the airframes did shake themselves to pieces from the firings. I suspect that someone from the Fort Leavenworth armory nearby supplied them with regular 75mm artillery rounds instead of rounds with less gunpowder suitable for the testing process...

[@jonnohz1]

Great history lesson. Thank you again for your videos

[@bsmith4u2]

And thus, the mighty A-10 Warthog was conceived.

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

Hardly! Think IL-2, maybe … really she’s a one off 👍

[@mwhitelaw8569]

The A-1 skyraider was the actual predecessor to the A10 .

[@jamesireland6606]

Great documentary

[@s.porter8646]

When you want to be a fighter pilot but you get bombers...hold my beer

[@frankmoore3598]

Back then the vice president of the company was the chief engineer not some venture capitalist with a seat on the board

[@johnfowler6600]

Missed the fact than they also served as forest fighting tankers in the west. Some of the crazyest pilots would fly down the canyons at less than tree top level to drop fire retard chemicals right on the wildfires and anything close.

[@tauncfester3022]

So back in 1967 my Father and my Uncle, who was a Pacific heater USN ace, got us all permission to climb around inside the B25 and B25 fire retardant bombers at Redmond, OR. The B-24 was really patched up and had many bullet holes. The inside of both were coated in red dust from the retardant. it got on everything including my shirt and pants.

[@blueelectricfusion]

one of your better episodes well reserched, well spoken and matching video. 😊❤

[@scottpecora371]

You can always tell a truly great design by how man variants are made of it. Especially when it begins to be used in totally different rolls than originally designed for. Another classic example is the Catalina PBY. from Vip transport, search and rescue, reconnaissance, and nighttime gunship to name some of its rolls.

[@dond.9023]

There is a B25H with the nose cannon and 4-50’s in the New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks CT. A great place to visit if you want to see a lot of historic aircraft up close…

[@TPaine1776]

I saw and got to go inside, just a bit, Hap Arnold's B-25 at an airshow in 1981. Very cool birds.

[@thesh8101]

They put a lot into the hard nose, they shoehorned in a 75mm cannon on a few as a trial. They also made a hard nose a20 and a26 (not to be confused with the b26) and put that with skip bombing and missiles and you had a pretty nasty attack planes.

[@plitterusmaximus]

No they had 75mm on production models, but crews routinely removed them but some still used them.

[@rickm2573]

A few used to fly into Eagle Field and give flight tours, just two taking off together shook the ground, very impressive. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

Great delivery.😊

[@benjaminrush4443]

I just loved the B - 25. Thanks.

[@Forge5304]

The NA-98X: a B-25H, serial number 43-4406, modified with R-2800 engines, spinners, and squared wings.

[@pkt1213]

I walked out of work a few months ago to a B-25 flying overhead. Nothing sounds like a radial engine.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video

[@MrCateagle]

First attempt to fit a 75mm cannon to an aircraft was in the 1930's when rhe USSR fitted a 74mm cannon to a TB-3 with a bobbed nose; it woeked well but the follow up wirh two additional cannons outboaed of the engines in eaxh wing. You missed the B-25 modified to serve as Gen. Eisenhowee"s exexutive transport.

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

The RAF also used one to haul Churchills fat @$$ around in !!!

[@mgm6708]

The Russians also modified a bomber with over 80 ppsh 41 machine guns in its belly, the flying hedgehog

[@Sabotage_Labs]

Love this Bomber. I fly the MotionRC/Freewing RC plane and love how it flies. Planning on converting it to the Marine Corp version with the guns in the nose! Like the USMC blue better than the olive drab and...my son is a Marine so....gotta go Devil Dog!!!! 😉😄

[@sumukhvmrsat6347]

Star wars Y wing vibes , 😅 , very effective and flexible medium bomber platform

[@garryferrington811]

I just saw a B-25 flying in Chino a short time ago!

[@RussJunkin]

My dad was a waist gunner on the B25. He flew 4 missions before the end of the war.

[@davef.2329]

At 25:30, A PBY Catalina cockpit.

[@oneshotme]

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@XRM123-f5k]

AT 03:24, YOU ARE SHOWING A VULTEE BT-13 / BT-15 “VALIANT” BASIC TRAINING A/C.!!!

[@ThomasDillon-z6u]

I worked on the A-10 warthog. It's about the same size and definitely more firepower than the B-25 Mitchell. I would love to see what the warthog could do against shipping.

[@Firehawk95]

I can't imagine the sound of all those 50's going off simultaneously and I have to wonder how much they slowed the plane down from recoil.

[@Azazel2024]

They aren't Cannon but id imagine it definitely did

[@ecarots9469]

But not as much as the 75

[@Firehawk95]

@@ecarots9469 The 75 was very slow-firing. I doubt it had much affect on the plane's speed. I read that the A-10 slows considerable when firing its gatling gun.

[@John-kx2tq]

​@@Firehawk95my Dad flew on the H and J models. He said when the 75 mm cannon fired the aircraft felt like it had hit a wall.

[@Firehawk95]

@@John-kx2tq good to know.

[@annehersey9895]

Please!!! If you’re going to play music while narrating, have it much lower than your voice so some of us with hearing problems don’t have to struggle to hear your great narration. I love this channel but this videos music is too loud-not usually a problem!

[@jamesbroughton7870]

I just got done reading a book about pappy gun and this was a great video to watch

[@tomriggs3926]

Quite an improvement.... @5:17 they jumped up to a Boeing B-47 Stratojet, oops.

[@ncgriso]

My very comment. later we get a shot of fighters (@ 5:45, RAF Spitfires ?!) on dispersal. This intermix of totally unrelated video happens across KZbin. Why? Please don't insult your viewers, we are here for real content, not pointless eye-candy. A further point - pilots impressed by the ability to absorb battle damage - before the start of hostilities (@ 6:54)? Right, that makes sense!

[@ncgriso]

And a Havoc @ 9:27 ?! Don't do this, it totally degrades the value of the content.

[@ncgriso]

Beaufighters @ 14:20.....

[@reedjack6564]

How is the Saga of Pappy Gunn not a tv series?

[@Hiddensecret9]

Beurling’s disinterest in reports or credit highlights his focus on the act of flying rather than the consequences of his actions. Does this detachment make him a more effective soldier, or does it dehumanize the nature of aerial combat?

[@franktreppiedi2208]

Pappy Gunn and Gen Kenney were key in defeating Japanese shipping. Subs too.

[@Neklar]

Who remembers Johnny Red in Battle Action Force comic flying a B-25 gunship on a mission from Russia to London? 😊

[@bigdeal6852]

I've been inside a B25...the metal is so thick in it that it's overwhelming. Plus the Armament is also. 😳 😊 🇺🇸 👍👍

[@ZombifiedWatermelon]

18 forward facing .50 cals......times 3 rounds per second......I would not want to be on the recieving end of that. 😳😳😳😳😳

[@thebobloblawshow8832]

You never disappoint. Great doc. 👍👍

[@VFRSTREETFIGHTER]

Read Indestructible by John R. Bruning

[@1339LARS]

Top notch!!! //Lars

[@falcondmp]

6:47 crews were impressed by the ability to take battle damage… really? How would they have known… the us wasn’t in the war at that time…

[@patrickporter1864]

The brits told them everything.

[@falcondmp]

@ who knows … but not in this case since the Raf started using the B 25 in operations from januari 1943

[@georgesheffield1580]

So did the Briston Boefighter and the best of the bunch the Mosquito .

[@georgesheffield1580]

4 20 mm cannons and 6 303 brownings ,2000 to 4000 lb of bombs and rockets and flies faster and further .

[@alexius23]

5th Air Force was a low priority for supply. Because Kenny was so far from Washington & he had the support of MacArthur Kenny was allowed to innovate.

[@Dr-Bread]

heck yeah b25

[@chrisalfano589]

You should look up the B-17 they put a Howitzer on… a little birdie told me about that one

[@stevek8]

They went the opposite way in the Doolittle Raid , replacing 50 calibers with broom handles.

[@Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu]

It seems like many commenters are surprised they mounted 6 X .50 cals in the nose, completely forgetting every single engine fighter in the war had that, with some having 8.

[@John-kx2tq]

J model had 12 fixed forward firing guns.

[@ToIsleOfView]

Hind sight indicates that landing on Iwo Jima in 1942 in conjunction with the Doolittle raid would have given US forces the perfect conditions for a gunship like the B25. All shipping would be within the bombing range of the air bases on Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was very weak at this time, and the airfields there could attack Japan at will. Japan would have thrown everything they had at recovering Iwo Jima. B25 gunships would have defended Iwo Jima and destroyed all Japanese shipping to and from the Japanese mainland. Hindsight is to be learned from.

[@dgalcaide_]

I think you messed up with the description of the videos, this one was for the falcon of malta

[@wilson2455]

remember reading where old Lancaster bombers were fitted with four (4) 40mm guns in the nose. Pilots said that even in a dive at max speed, when they fired the guns the recoil would almost stall the plane.

[@mgm6708]

I think that's exaggerated. E ven single engine aircraft were fitted with duel 37 or 40mm cannons

[@shootfirst2097]

There is an entire BOOK written about this rogue engineer Pappy Gun

[@artawhirler]

Does this book have a title??

[@shootfirst2097]

@@artawhirler "Indestructible" by John R. Bruning, and 'The Saga of Pappy Gunn" by George Kenney

[@Rusty_Gold85]

I think the US Army stuck with the premise up to 1943 a bomber could defend itself up to the bombing site and return. The loss of crews to unescorted missions started to show with the loss off experienced crews and the increase in rookies starting to fill the Barracks instead

[@kensmith8152]

Anyone remember the original movie Catch 22 with Alan Arkin?

[@oweneather1435]

The Australian Bristol Beaufighter, with two 1,700 hp Hercules giving a top speed well over 300 mph, must were the inspiration for the " gunship" B 25. High speed, agile and tough, it was already smashing Japanese ships and bases. How? It's massive forward firing battery of FOUR 20mm cannon and, Wing mounted, SIX .50 cal Browning's. In the same attacks in the Bismark Sea Battle, the RAAF Beaufighters demolished anti aircraft guns and command bridges of the eight escort destroyers, reports stating that " bridges exploded and bodies tossed in the air like dolls". This left the unarmed escorts open to the attacks of other bombers, including the B 25s. BTW, the 5th Air Force low level tactics, as well as Command systems, were established by war experienced RAAF pilots and commanders from 2 years experience in Europe and North Africa.

[@downunderrob]

Though your not wrong about the Beau, there is one thing I'll call into question. The Beau didn't have the Browning .50cal, but Browning .303 MG.

[@oweneather1435]

@@downunderrob All references I've seen indicate the Australians fitted . 50 cal. Building under licence.

[@downunderrob]

@@oweneather1435 Well I'm off to do some digging then. 👍

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

The Beau, a British plane built in OZ was designed as a heavy strike fighter. Pretty fantastic plane really. Whereas the B-25 was “just” a bomber.

[@downunderrob]

​@@oweneather1435And wouldn't you know it. The first place I looked, the Australian Military Aviation website, states that the Mk.21 Beaufighter flown by the RAAF. Had its 6 .303 MG, replaced by 4 .50cal HMG. I still have reference books and periodicals going back to the 1970s, on my shelves. None of them, as I recall. Mention that armament change. So thanks for that, I've learned something new.

[@leglo4996]

5:18 i think those are b47 jet bombers being built

[@klaus-peterborn1370]

Dont know that the Japanese used 88 Flak in german uniforms. (10:09)

[@artawhirler]

Lotta people don't know that. 😂

[@franktreppiedi2208]

LOL

[@mothmagic1]

I think early WW2 bombers were built to cope with fighters of the P26 caliber. Unfortunately this meant that they were indefensible in the face of the fighters that were holding sway by 1939.

[@GiantPopIts89]

I’m assuming he is referring to “pappy” , from the black sheep squadron. Or am I wrong???

[@nigeldepledge3790]

At 16:31 - ". . . However, integrating such a massive weapon into the B25 presented unique challenges, such as shortening the bomber's nose by 26 inches . . ." Um, what? Why did they *shorten* the bomber's nose to accommodate such a "massive" weapon as the cannon?

[@medic53067]

They likely shortened it to improve the centre of gravity (COG). The increased weight of that cannon would have placed a lot of weight further forward. This would have made the B25 nose heavy and ruined the excellent performance. By shortening the nose, the gun would sit further back, and although it’s still heavy the weight would be closer towards the wing roots and the natural COG of the air frame.

[@nigeldepledge3790]

@medic53067 - ah, I see. That does make sense.

[@2tafmba]

The cannon was located in the former bombardier's crawl tunnel and the breech was in the navigators compartment so the loader had room to work. The nose was shortened so the muzzle was outside. There was no auto-loading.

[@nigeldepledge3790]

@2tafmba - oh, no autoloader?! I guess the loader is the guy who drew the shortest straw . . .

[@SleepyDaisy-ub9wt]

Grandpa of the a-10 and ac-130

[@FernandoTRA]

Great video but what's up with the music? It doesn't let one understand the narrator every so often. It just is distracting.

[@BenBrockman-v3g]

Worst idea ever: massed squadrons of heavy bombers at high altitude with ineffective guns. Best ideas ever: using the same platforms for ground and surface support gunships and cargo aircraft.