B-17 Bomber's Upper Turret Station Review

Enclosed is a detailed video describing how the WWII B-17 Bomber’s Upper Turret Station and Integrated Gun Sight. Topics include:
1. Roles and responsibilities of the upper turret gunner and flight engineer
2. B-17 bomber upper turret factoids
3. B-17 bomber upper turret ammo capacity
4. B-17 bomber upper Turret Sperry Automatic Computing K3 gun sight
5. B-17 bomber upper Turret hand control unit
6. Upper Turret Sperry K3 gun sight desktop display in action
Library of B-17 Gunstations and Gunsights:
B-17 Tail Gunner Survivability (part 1): • B-17 Bomber Crew Tail ...
B-17 Tail Gunner Combat Effectiveness (part 2): • B-17 Crew Tour of Duty...
B-17 Ball Turret (part 1) Crew Survivability: • B-17 Bomber Ball Turre...
B-17 Ball Turret (part 2) External Features: • B-17 Bomber Ball Turre...
B-17 Ball Turret (Part 3) Combat Effectiveness: • B-17 Ball Turret, Comb...
B-17 vs. B-29 Gunsights: • WWII B-17 vs. B-29 Bom...
B-17 Gunsights for Ranging: • B-17 Bomber, Using Rin...
B-17 Gunsights for Tracking: • B-17 Bomber Tracking a...
B-17 Browning .50 Cal Machine Guns: • B-17 Bomber's Browning...

[@napluvr4173]

My grandfather recently passed and he was a B-17 flight engineer/top turret gunner in the 483rbd bomb group. I had no idea the level of complexity of his job while in flight. He had excellent mechanical aptitude when i was growing up. He taught me a lot about automotive maintenance and electronics. I can see now why the army told him he was going to be in this role.

[@mikejordan8259]

He didn't live in Ohio did he?

[@napluvr4173]

@@mikejordan8259 Michigan

[@nialldoyle8206]

Some men in those days. Dialing in the inputs while a Gerry is screaming in to kill you. Apparently they seldom shouted down their microphones. Talked calmly and efficiently. Definitely the best generation.

[@nialldoyle8206]

@communists are gross I tend to agree. We have spoilt the next generation taken everything and given nothing. It’s not going to end well.

[@sking3492]

Hell, too many things to think about!! 😳Or as they say, too much cream in the jug and it overflows😐😐. If a crew depended on me saving them, then they better have their chutes ready, like yesterday!! 😜😜

[@KenVic02]

I'm a degreed mechanical engineer (with a masters), and I truly marvel at the inginuity involved in designing and producing these gunsights. Every time I think I'm a slick product designer with my fancy SolidWorks CAD software, watching these videos of what these guys did in the 30's and 40's totally humbles me. Great informative post.

[@santaclaus6602]

It’s really amazing with what they came up with & it worked so well

[@Mark-uh4zd]

What really blows my mind is something like the SR71… 60s tech that was able to fly Mach 3+ and designed with slide rulers and no computers. It was also not powered by any type of “computers” one would think about. Truly amazing what man is able to achieve. If we were able to design things like this prior to the advent of the modern computer, I cannot imagine what we have hidden in black projects today. Technology development moves insanely fast. Just look at technology from the early 2000s compared to what we have now. Really makes you wonder what type of machinery or software will be available in the year 2100. For better or worse, technology will continue to develop, whether it is used to more efficiently wage war or propel us into the cosmos or help humanity better solve global problems.

[@allenmeierotto5035]

I'm a degreed Aerospace/Mechanical engineer as well and I am fascinated by these videos showing the mechanical gunsight/bombsight technology from those days.

[@edwardpatalon1701]

I am also amazed at the technology that was involved in WWII. From aircraft to battle ship fire control computers.

[@MIKE-qy4wx]

))

[@vanPoll]

Having only 400 rounds for each gun gives me cold chills down my spine. These rounds go very, very quick...

[@B-and-O-Operator-Fairmont]

I read one time that time wise, no gun on a B-17 carried more than a minute's worth of ammunition. Those were probably the two waist guns.

[@alankordzikowski7670]

Yeah, it is scary to think about. Especially when talking about deep penetration missions into Germany. 6-8 hrs round trip. Really have to conserve your ammo.

[@earlfruitbat9032]

I agree. 400 rounds seems much too little

[@vanPoll]

@@alankordzikowski7670 I would go through 400 rounds on only one encounter with an enemy plane without noticing it much. Pure horror. Stuck in a freezing metal tube, flying through enemy airspace with fighters on the tail, AA firing up and no more ammunition to shoot back at least. Nightmare.

[@alankordzikowski7670]

@@vanPoll that’s why they trained the gunners to do short bursts. 3-5 rounds at a time. But still, it could’ve been East and temping to just unload. Especially when confronted with waves of German fighter planes numbering in the hundreds

[@pdalko]

Dad was a top turret gunner and FE in the 8th AAF, 401 Bomb Group, Triangle S Squadron. He did 30 missions. You could tell that he had been involved in something that really rattled his cage and rocked his boat. Whenever us kids got him talking about it he wouldn’t be able to get to sleep that night.

[@olentangy74]

My uncle Willy was a ball turret gunner on B-24’s in the 8th AF. Two confirmed kills before he was shot down over France and was POW. He would give you a yes or no answer to a direct question but that was all he would say. He never opened up about the war and his time in Europe. I guess he just wanted to leave it in the past.

[@emmgeevideo]

I watch a lot of these kinds of KZbin videos and I read a lot about the air war in WW II. I still cannot comprehend how much guts it had to take to do what these guys did. I'm beyond grateful for their courage and sacrifice.

[@sking3492]

​@@olentangy74 Of all the hideous, most ugliest and frightening jobs on the B17s or B24s - NO anywhere in fact, land, sea or air - l would have to say hands down the ball turret gunner. Shut your eyes and imagine a 17 or 24 coming all shot to hell. Big holes in the tail, fuselage....And a ball turret loose or dragging on the ground...

[@kitharrison8799]

Your videos are magnificent in detail and give we of subsequent generations a much illuminated insight into the ingenuity and technical expertise involved in defending such brave young men.

[@cjyoung7372]

To be honest I always thought that the gunners would just point and squirt just like a firehose I had no idea about the complexity of it. After watching these clips I am impressed even more with the old timers that layed it down for us and our freedom

[@stulynn2005]

It's amazing how one could fiddle so much with the sights and shoot in the heat of the moment.

[@theoldbigmoose]

My Uncle was a top turret gunner. Great to learn what Uncle Dan's responsibilities were. thank you for this video

[@davefellhoelter1343]

I guess my Gramps was too? He was a flight engineer in a B 17.

[@theoldbigmoose]

@@davefellhoelter1343 Our forefathers were forged of iron! Truly the greatest generation. We continue to look to the wisdom they instilled in us to carry on in this crazy world. They would know what to do, and they would do it in a heartbeat. Great men with great values that raised great families.

[@ptonpc]

It's amazing what could be done with electro mechanical parts.

[@jeffdougan491]

My mom's brother, T/Sgt. James Hulings, was flight engineer-top turret gunner on B-17G "Gallopin'Ghost", 34th Bombardment Group, 8th AAF. KIA on his 28th mission, 01/20/1945.

[@jr5113]

My dad was a T/Sgt. mechanic with the 34th Group in Mendelsohn (Sp?) during that time. He’sdeceased but perhaps they were acquainted.

[@toastnjam7384]

When I was a kid in the early 60's a L.A. mini golf and arcade had several machines where you were a top turret gunner. Even as a kid I could tell these were military grade and not a purposely built arcade toy. They looked expensive and were solidly built and very heavy. I assumed they were for gunnery training. You look thru a viewfinder and swivel the guns at animated fighters swooping at you and hits were mechanically recorder on a counter. IIRC the guns world shut off when pointed at the tail. The animation was excellent, almost like a movie. Needless to say this was my favorite arcade game. 10 cents a play. Looking back the technology for the time was very impressive.

[@dchaz3.0dacan18]

I remember those! A arcade at the Newport Beach pier had several of them back in the 80's. And like you I could tell they were ex military and not purposely built arcade machine. I also assumed they were for gunnery training.

[@FelixstoweFoamForge]

I can remember something similar in the UK in the 70's; pintle mounted mg shooting at films of Japanese and German Aircraft.

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

sounds like a "Waller" training station...the military had at least 80 of them and others copied them

[@islandmonusvi]

Ditto for the arcade at Redondo Beach King Harbor Wharf …my favorite , too. Dad gave me a 1:48 scale B-17 Model for my 8th birthday.

[@neilwilson5785]

Wait. This guy has a B-17 gunsight in his garage? Only 6.31K subscribers? Come on!

[@atomicshadowman9143]

My uncle has a Norden bombsight🤷‍♂️.

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

What amazes me is how they got around certain situations with mechanical style components which we would use a computer for today

[@normfreilinger5655]

Best explanation of the B-17 top turret on U-Tube !

[@WWIIUSBombers]

Thanks

[@Emily-iv4hk]

My Grandfather was a top turret in the 99th Bomb Group in WWII. This was really cool to watch, thanks for the lesson.

[@ypaulbrown]

this is so well done, this is the type of WWII video I love, the nuts and bolts of things..... .you can keep all the footage of shooting, bombing, planes going down.... I have pretty much seen my share of those, but your descriptions are fantastic..... when you run out of material for these type reviews, how about some manufacturing videos?.....thank you so much......your fan from Orlando, Florida, Paul.....BRAVO

[@markharnitchek9205]

i have been watching the old 12 O'Clock High televsion series and often ask myself, "how does that work" ... well, your channel has all the answers! I am also surprised by the amount of mechanical computing we did in WWII ... submarines had similar analog computers which solved for target range, course, and speed. many thanks.

[@HITPHOMES]

My dad!

[@kentcruz2602]

What a great channel. It is so nice to have a detailed explanation of so many things I know about but had no idea of the details of how they worked. Thanks

[@neilwilson5785]

He is literally showing us a real time view of a B-17 gunner sight! What an underrated channel.

[@jg2072]

I'm impressed that you actually have the artifacts to show us.

[@arniewilliamson1767]

Loved the piece. An interesting thing about the B17, which cost around 200.00 dollars the Brits for the same amount of money were producing 2 Lancaster bombers.

[@Bob-vc6ug]

Thanks for the great video. Having a gun sight there to explain things was cool!

[@dhh8088]

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to know more about this particular station. There was just something comforting about imagining myself being encased in metal and plexiglass with machine guns, staring at the sky.

[@stevenlee798]

Great demo. Lots to do in a short amount of time tho with regards to spotting the aircraft identification of friend or foe the the type of plane ranging it adjustment of turret to track it while it's moving around 300 to 400 mph.

[@jorgwalter1954]

Oh man, just have watched 1 1/2 clips of yours and I am hooked. Thanks for your hi-fi videos!

[@citadel9611]

It's impressive you have one of these systems in your garage! Love your channel.

[@WildBillCox13]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

[@WWIIUSBombers]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@arohk1579]

Very good video you went into a lot of detail on the operating system which was cool. Lokking forward to your other ones.

[@jessmarks2214]

Love your analysis, observations and technical descriptions of the tech and operations of crews, fech and doctrine.

[@jeffdillon1972]

"What's in the garage honey, I can't park my car." - "Oh that's just the fire control and Sperry gun sight form a..." - "Never mind I'll park in the drive, AGAIN." Just teasing of course, once again GREAT content!

[@balham456]

Technically this channel is very good.

[@charliemyres5450]

This is an absolutely riveting site. i love your explanations of a fascinating subject.

[@josephonesto5956]

Very good; thank you.

[@geodeaholicm4889]

Excellent highly & clearly detailed content as always. the sun filter you described was actually adjustable polarizing filters. similar adjustable polarizers are in some microscopes used by geologists to investigate certain characteristics of rock thin sections.

[@Woody-nc1ru]

Ha!!! That was cool!!! Quite a fancy gunsight

[@user-xc6wu3ve8u]

I am surprised at how slowly the subscriptions are growing. I enjoy them very much!!

[@dealermemow596]

underated channel

[@MrOhdead]

Superb, did not know about the fire computer at all, I now have a clue how the B29 got range for its gun direction from the remote stations thank you !

[@BigSkyCurmudgeon]

what i find awesome is the fact that 1 gunner could control several remote stations at once

[@zachary8491]

Incredible video...

[@michaelpate4774]

Has this unit sitting in his garage. What a hobbyist !

[@jmp.t28b99]

Excellent video.....

[@dapro2848]

Good stuff. Thanks

[@oldgrunt5806]

No idea how you find all this original gear. That being said, awesome video series. Getting to see some of the gear that made these great planes work and getting a better understanding of what the crews went through. Keep up the great work.

[@craigpennington1251]

A very good and really, easy way to get the bandit in sight. Very clever invention of mechanical instead of electrical computer tech. Even so, those guys had Iron Balls man, the whole crew did. Very brave and courageous fellows. Thanks for posting. Very interesting stuff.

[@bikenavbm1229]

from the little footage I have seen my hunch is all that would have been redundant in most engagements, love to know what gunners actually did. a very difficult task to achieve a hit, but made the fighters stay away from the easy angles I should imagine. thanks for the vid

[@francopasta3704]

The gunner is doing all these computations at a target moving 300 MPH…. Incredible

[@picardbs]

excellent

[@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG]

great videos! my only wish, (not a complaint :) is i wish that they were longer! i dont watch TV anymore and i love the independent creators on youtube especially the guys that make 30 to 45 minute videos! kind of like watching tv lol. keep up the great work! hopefully youll continue to make videos like these cause im almost through all your videos already!! you are in my top 7 right now along with "Gregs airplanes, mark felton, geography king, CDN, ED Nashs military matters, world war 2, and salty cracker lol pretty cool that you had the gun site to show us! thanks for that. too bad you did nt have a double 50s to shoot off LMFAO cheers mate to great work!

[@arhatyellow]

And to think : every time one of these planes fell, ten men were killed with it. Some missions lost hundreds of men. Ten men dead each time a B-17 was destroyed.

[@MattKearneyFan1]

Some were lucky to get out though only to be POWs

[@miloszruczynski1230]

most enjoyable video. what i do not understand however, is how does the K3 calculate lead without target's speed and course intputs..? does it depend on gunner tracking the target for a while? but there is no way to indicate to the computer that "im tracking now"

[@nichoth1]

Great explanation, please produce more! Rough camera work on the close ups, bouncing all over the place when showing the function of the controls. Consider a tripod or other holding device, so you can point out and manipulate the controls without the video being affected my your motion.

[@davidbohner692]

Excellent 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏👏👏👏👏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@SimonBarsinister]

My father was a top turret gunner in a B 25 Mitchell in the 5th Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater. Same principle I imagine.

[@billwang4181]

My old boss was a B-17 pilot who flew over Germany. He mentioned that it was a major plus when they got the chin turret to deter head on attacks. He also said that the turret gunners could hit the props when firing forward. The video mentioned that the turret was set up to not allow hitting the aircraft. I wonder if this included the prop arcs.

[@benash2954]

In the video on the ball turret it said that they were blocked from shooting the props so I guess so

[@billwang4181]

@@benash2954 In retrospect, my boss may have meant that the field of fire of the dorsal turret (also the ball) was restricted due to the chance of hitting the prop arcs--if the interrupt device was not present. The conversation was a long time ago.

[@F1Hopeful]

Aerial gunnery from a bomber must have been very difficult to learn especially with the short training periods these guys had. Once mechanical computers began making their appearance I believe the entire art became more accurate , with an obviously deleterious impact on the opposing side. Great video!!!!

[@Bob-vc6ug]

Have you seen some of the training videos where they have the gunners shooting skeet from moving vehicles?

[@debbiestimac5175]

@@Bob-vc6ug Have you seen the cartoon that they did showing how to shoot deflection shots from the waist position? The guy they chose to voice it was hilarious!

[@Bob-vc6ug]

@@debbiestimac5175 Yes! 🤣 Thank you for reminding me.

[@debbiestimac5175]

@@Bob-vc6ug That big lovable oaf! Loony tunes was such a great idea to teach those young men, just recently boys, how to fight a war. I just wish we hadn't lost so many of them, the best generation indeed!

[@Bob-vc6ug]

@@debbiestimac5175 Indeed! My own father was in the CBI theater, and he was wounded 2 times and had malaria but he never came home until his job was finished after 3 years. Im very lucky to even be here on this Earth today, and will be forever proud of my Dad and all of the others that made the sacrifice, sometimes the ultimate sacrifice.

[@JGCR59]

There must have been a limit to the possible deflection angle this sight could transmit to the turret, probably the limit of the independent traverse of the sight.

[@tootired76]

"YES! I'm gonna be a Staff Sergeant!" A marine attacking Iwo jima has a better chance of surviving combat....

[@timfoppiano3990]

Majority of FE/ TTG were T/Sgt’s, as were the radio operators

[@steamon2]

I never thought that a gun sight of this complexity was used in B17 the RAF Lancaster had a similar computer for bombing all gears and motors

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

That seems like a lot of fiddling while a fighter plane is bearing down at you.

[@blakestone75]

Maybe so, but at least its SOMETHING to go off of when trying to defend your plane. I'm just impressed that 1940s tech could accomplish such things.

[@Bob-vc6ug]

True, but with experience/practice, Im sure that they just got a feel for it and would anticipate more quickly.

[@RhodokTribesman]

You see them a few kilometers out (even in sims) and it gives you time to prepare for their path.

[@mikejordan8259]

When I worked at a local grocery store I met an old fella who told me he was a Top Turret Gunner on a B-17. I wish I could find him. He is apparently still alive.

[@Hi-lb8cq]

Please do videos on the B-24...as my grandfather was a flight engineer and top turret gunner on a b-24

[@MrWahooknows]

My father was a B-24D pilot, so I agree with you.

[@kerrylangman214]

-- the upper turret itself was modified as well : increasing head room and adding side panels -- increasing visibility ?

[@4shink]

I've always wondered at the risk of "friendly fire" incidents when, in the heat of a defensive battle, possibly as many as 6 gunners/plane x 12 aircraft per squadron x 3 squadrons per group = 216 frightened shooters! I would think unintentional traverses onto neighboring aircraft would be almost inevitable yet I have never read or heard any data on this scenario.

[@MrSmokeeater69]

What were the 2D ring handles by the gunners head? Is it for cocking the machine guns or is that like a emergency bail out

[@outlawflyer7868]

So what you suppose to do if two fighter are coming at u at the same time but they aren't close together.? One let's say, is a little further back. He suppose to be clicking that handle all the time for range? What if the plane is running parallel to the bomber? Why does the top turret have this but not the rear nor the the side gunners?

[@charlieboffin2432]

I was surprised how advanced and complex these systems were in comparison to the RAF Browning guns on our heavy bombers

[@BMF6889]

My father was a B-17 pilot in July 1943 and was shot down on his third mission on 26 July, 1943. The target was the Hanover Rubber Works. En route, he was hit by flak and the navigator nd others were killed and the communications were shot out and so there was no communications with the back of the B-17. He made his bomb run, but on the way back to England but because of the flak damage he fell behind the formation and was shot down by an FW-190 piloted by Senior Lt. Decker. Five of the crew survived and five died. Decker was shot down a few days later on 30 July, 1943 and killed by an American P-47 pilot. My father spent the rest of the War as a POW. He never said anything about the War. I had to find out by requesting and reading about it all from WW II documentations from both poorly recorded evens by the US to very detailed documentations of German records after his death. He did say that the novel written about Stalag Luft III (Maybe I' m Dead) which he said was in was the most accurate description of his life at Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIIA. The Greatest Generation is essentially gone. All we have left are a few historical interviews some informal interviews and a couple of stories---the rest is lost forever. The military today doesn't seem so interested. Their focus is now on wokeism in all of its manifestations. Instead of training and fighting a possible peer country to win the military seems to be focused on transgender, pronoun correctness, transgender surgeries,, and inequity in the military where it rarely exists. Where inequity is a real problem in combat. I served 21 years in the Marine Corps as an infantry officer with 3 years in combat. My first job was as an Infantry platoon commander was to lead my Marines into combat. And I did so by setting the example. My Marines knew that I would never ask them to do something that I hadn't already done or that they knew that I would do it. I led from the front.. I can tell you this, if Biden had been a platoon commander in Vietnam, his men would have killed him. It wasn't common, but Biden is so bad, his own men would have killed him at some point--just my opinion based on what I saw in Vietnam.

[@jonseeley8263]

Thanks for your story and service

[@DJ-mz7td]

And I guess you and your Marines would make that orange traitor trump the King of the United States? What's your name, Oswald?

[@khaccanhle1930]

Wow! How much money did it cost to buy those instruments?

[@jinkim955]

What are those hanging handles on the top?

[@FelixstoweFoamForge]

That is one complicated gunsight. Reminds me of a mechanical fire control used by a lot of British subs in the war. It was unofficially called the "Is-Was". Meaning that by the time you'd inputted all the data for the solution; ie., "The range IS, the target speed IS, the angle off the bow IS", you'd end up with a solution that WAS correct when you started. This is very similar. Especially for a head on attack, the gunner would have to be constantly adjusting the range bars, at a closing speed of 600kph, in the heat of combat. That's a closing speed of roughly 166 meters per Second. Cant really see that working. Far better to just set the range for just, say 300 meters, and hold your fire until then. After all, no-one is going to hit a closing, fighter sized target, at 600 meters. At that range, a 109 looks like a dot with two very thin lines coming off it. Great and interesting video though!

[@stuartdilts2729]

In the equivalent video for the Sperry ball turret, a veteran in the comments said that he was rarely able to frame a target because of the relative speed of the attacking aircraft. I wonder how close the adjustments needed to be in order to actually hit anything.

[@KKRioApartments]

What did they do if the enemy fighter wasn't coming at them head on, and thus they couldn't frame the wingtips between the lines in the sight in a straightforward manner? Like if the fighter was zipping past parallel to the bomber, or attacking at an angle? Just spray and pray, or was there a trick for those kinds of situations?

[@TheShockwaveDragon]

In the case of a head-on pass, the closing speed between a fighter and bomber is MUCH faster than either airplane's true airspeed and this means the gunner would probably only waste ammo trying to engage the target, since it would be gone almost faster than the human gunner could register its passage, let alone track it with the sluggish speed of the mechanical aiming computer apparatus OR the turret. The only possible chance you might have would be if you were already facing aft, and decided to use dead-reckoning to hit it as it passed, assuming it did not immediately bank down and out of your firing arc altogether (at which point it would then become the belly gunner's headache). As for an angle attack, framing the wingtips exactly within the horizontal line is not required; a experienced gunner would use a combination of their training in calculating the placement of the airplane relative to him, and his judgement, to make the final 'eyeball' adjustments to the holographic gun sight try to score a hit using the general size and speed of the airplane as baseline parameters -- refer to the training video "Hitting a Moving Target for World War 2 Bomber Gunners (1944 - Restored)" for a detailed breakdown on how this works.

[@eddie4324]

How do you adjust range if you have a side profile of a fighter?

[@Thomasnmi]

You don't. And you probably would not risk a full deflection shot

[@georgesakellaropoulos8162]

Every 5th round is a tracer. This is very valuable since you can see the trajectory of your rounds. Difference in ballistic performance between tracer and other rounds is a thing, but for quick and dirty work, an experienced gunner can deliver rounds on target.

[@josephlemieux5981]

Are ball turret, rear and nose gunners responsible for reloading their own ammo; is there a dedicated man that doe’s that, or do they only have their initial round count for the duration?

[@rippervtol9516]

My understanding is there was no additional ammo carried, what was at their station is all they had for the mission.

[@oldandbroken]

Hi, great content and well explained. I love mechanical computers and steam gunnery systems. The stereo phonics range in put is still used today in some telescopic range finding equipment. I have one question though, can you please confirm the rate of fire of the twin 50s please, stated 14 round per second, which sounds a bit high considering a MG3 is 1100 to 1300 rounds per minute.

[@oldandbroken]

@@kiereluurs1243 no, I sometimes forget that not all people have gunnery qualifications. Steam gunnery refers to a gun system that relies on, as a secondary back up system, that has a wheels, knobs, wheels system as a means of traversing and elevating the weapon system. Although your comment may be seen as funny, it only exposes your lack of knowledge. I am happy to discuss technical gunnery with you any day of the week but not talk about your lack of experience, knowledge or failed sense of humour

[@emmgeevideo]

Seems very precise. I wonder a) how well a gunner could use all those controls when a German fights was flying toward the bomber. It was going, say, 350 miles an hour and the bomber was going 250 miles an hour so the net speed was 500-600 miles an hour. And b) how accurate was the gun if you had time to do all the adjusting?

[@eoyguy]

I wondered the same thing. I kind off assume they set the sight at a known distance where they wanted to open fire and used guestimation from there.

[@emmgeevideo]

@@eoyguy I'm guessing tracers helped a lot too.

[@BigSkyCurmudgeon]

@@emmgeevideo by the time you noticed the tracers path, the enemy was far past you

[@williamromine5715]

You point out that the armor protection is for the standard .30 cal machine gun. Did the Americans think they would be fighting the RAF? If I'm not mistaken, the German interceptors were generally armed with 13mm machine guns and larger cannons. The RAF used .30 cal machine guns on its Spitfire and Hurricanes. I wonder why the armor was only designed for .30 cal? Maybe, 13mm armor protection would be too heavy? Do you plan a series on the B-24 Liberator?

[@MrWahooknows]

Great question.

[@franktreppiedi2208]

How did they manage all those wheels, rings and sights while fighters are coming at you at 200-300 mph? I guess they just trained the hell out of bomber crews?

[@robertoday2001]

My dad was with the mighty 8th crew chief for 4 birds

[@bwilliams463]

You need to be an engineer just to sight this thing in. I wonder how many of these procedures were actually followed in combat.

[@santaclaus6602]

Lot to do in only 2-3 seconds. My reflexes are so slow I never would’ve got a shot off much less hit anything

[@Vaderd2k926]

Sooo you just happened to have the guts of a B17 top turret in your garage? I’ve got a Dodge in mine

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

Those planes had over 1300lb or 600KLG of .50bmg ammo alone.... let alone case links, ammo boxes, guns, turrets, and all the rest of the planes

[@donf3877]

It makes you wonder, if it was so good, why this gun sight wasn't installed on EVERY gunner's position on EVERY bomber..........................................

[@MrNategriffin]

hard to believe a guy would have enough time to make all those adjustments as an enemey fighter is coming at him at the speeds they flew. seems to me that just watching your tracers would be more efficient.

[@santaclaus6602]

Probably waste more ammo? Sure didn’t have enough to waste

[@matronmalice9867]

Dude just happens to have a sperry gunsight in his garage

[@ThomasDaley100]

"dislodging hung bombs" jfc c'mon now. i can't even imagine being in any of their positions for a single second

[@gpnava1093]

Each gun fires up to 14 rnds per second. Not even 14 rnds in a sec.

[@antman2826]

Can I suggest you get a camera stand fir videos like this? Great content but couldn’t see shit through sight with the camera bouncing all around.

[@MrWahooknows]

Did the British have anything remotely like this ingenious system for their Lancaster, et. al. turrets?

[@concise707]

Yes, we did - indeed the American turrets were developed from Boulton Paul and Frazer Nash turrets sent to the USA

[@gavinowen2263]

That turret controller looks just like my playstation 4 controller lol! 😆 🤣 😂

[@jean-robertlombard1416]

Bonjour de France. 14 rounds per second...hum, hum...

[@Hierax415]

My biggest takeaway....holy crap how did we win a war using the imperial system? "Fighters 3'oclock 4 miles" okay let me just multiply that by 1760 carry the 6......how many feet is the wingspan wait was that in yards?

[@spencerhardy8667]

People were far better at quick mental arithmetic in the days before calculators and the Napoleonic system. 880, 440, 220... Boom. It's really quite easy.

[@Razor_6]

Terrible aiming... because correct hitting each bandit was depends on the speed of the weapon synchronization. I guess this turret in most B-17 was ineffective

[@vinceberetta9218]

Better check your facts, a Browning .50 caliber does not fire at a rate of 11 rounds per second. I don't think both of them combined can make that amount.

[@WWIIUSBombers]

The firing rate for the light barrel Browning M2 was up to 850 rounds per minute. This equates to 14 rounds per second. The May, 1944 Aircrewman's Gunnery Training (Document OPNAV 33-34) manual page G-2 states, "Your Gun Fires 750 to 850 shots per minute - 14 shots a second".

[@RhodokTribesman]

These are AN/M2s, the aerial variant firing at like 900rpm or thereabouts. The aerial guns are monsters compared to the ~600? Rpm of the ground M2s. This is little league shit, come on, bro. Don't talk about what you dont know about; good life tip for seeming smart.

[@fer581]

In the ocean pacífic , b_ 17 usa bomber 666!.?!?👹