Gunner Shots

[Randy]

Oh, and seeing as we had a lot of these . . . another one, lol.





Yes, those last shots were all B17 waist gun shots. And the other waist gun is the port side gun of this guy:





The He111, the same as the nose gun action shot posted above.


You know, the kids at one time halfway feigned an interest in the old birds, but lately . . .

. . . well, for example, the last time I asked my boy if he wanted to go for another B17 ride with me (as a mechanic I usually don't get paid cash) he thought for a moment, asked how long it would be before we got back home and he could go to his buddies house (about 2.5 to 3 hours) and he said ". . . naw, I don't think so, I'm going to go to my buddie's house and play video games."

:/

[Randy]

PS

Did anyone notice the gyro reflector sights on the waist guns in tat last B17 waist gun photo?

That was a relatively late innovation. Sentimental Journey is probably the most authentic B17 flying. Period. Right down to the bare metal interior.

[TSPhillips]

Cyberia,
The shot of the German gunner drawing a bead on the strange looking bird, I believe, is a P-61 Black Widow. That's the only plane I've seen with that type of stabilator, where it didn't extend past the vertical stabilators. Of course, it was used primarily as a night fighter in the Pacific theater, so what one may have been doing in England or Europe is beyond me. That's my guess.

[Erich]

TS there were two squadrons of P-61's based in England and later on the mainland in 45, the 422nd and the 425th nfs

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by TSPhillips

Cyberia,
The shot of the German gunner drawing a bead on the strange looking bird, I believe, is a P-61 Black Widow. That's the only plane I've seen with that type of stabilator, where it didn't extend past the vertical stabilators. Of course, it was used primarily as a night fighter in the Pacific theater, so what one may have been doing in England or Europe is beyond me. That's my guess.

Actually, according to the info provided which is often suspect, that plane in the gunner's sights was tagged as Dutch Fokker G.I.

I'm no aviation expert though, so what do you guys think.

[TSPhillips]

Cyberia and Erich,
I'm going to go with P-61. I looked up a Dutch Fokker, never having known one even existed, and saw that the horizontal boom was toward the bottom of the stabilizers, not the top as with the aircraft in the picture. Erich, great info. Didn't know there were Black Widows in the EU. I wonder if the Black Widow was modelled after the Fokker?

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by TSPhillips

Cyberia and Erich,
I'm going to go with P-61. I looked up a Dutch Fokker, never having known one even existed, and saw that the horizontal boom was toward the bottom of the stabilizers, not the top as with the aircraft in the picture. Erich, great info. Didn't know there were Black Widows in the EU. I wonder if the Black Widow was modelled after the Fokker?

I would not be surprised TSP, I don't have an eye for aircraft and like I said, I've learned not to trust accompanying information on the web.

I bow therefore to the greater collective knowledge of our resident "fly boys".

[TSPhillips]

Cyberia,
Just for kicks and grins I looked up a Black Widow, and found that the stabilator didn't go to the top of the vertical stabilizers like in the picture. It also wasn't put into service until '43. If the picture was labeled as '40, then it couldn't be a P-61. So, now I'm going to do some more research as I'm intensely curious as to what that aircraft is. Maybe it is a Dutch Fokker, just a later version. If I find out, I'll post back.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by TSPhillips

Cyberia,
Just for kicks and grins I looked up a Black Widow, and found that the stabilator didn't go to the top of the vertical stabilizers like in the picture. It also wasn't put into service until '43. If the picture was labeled as '40, then it couldn't be a P-61. So, now I'm going to do some more research as I'm intensely curious as to what that aircraft is. Maybe it is a Dutch Fokker, just a later version. If I find out, I'll post back.

Very cool. I did Google (my only resource on such things) the Dutch Fokker when I first read the caption. I did not notice anything by way of detail, but it didn't "feel" right if you know what I mean. So I opted not to include it with the photo.

If you can score a definitive answer that would rock.

[Randy]

Staged shot with a Focke Wulf 189. The view is from slightly below.






PS The gunner is WAAY behind the plane if he is in fact trying to follow it.


.