B 17 ball turret

1964SuperStocker

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
Could you imagine being 19 or 20 years old flying over Germany in that turret shooting at German fighter pilots scarry times for sure :bow:bow:bow
Hell no! The worst part is when the things jam and won't raise up to land. You could see your buddy down there but you couldn't get him out. Very scary and sad that engineers weren't smart enough to give those poor kids a way to safety. No Chute in there either so...sad. Great idea but bad application.
Crushed-ball-turret-web.jpg
 

1964SuperStocker

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
I think a belly landing with failed hydraulics would be messy!
I heard stories where pilots would have crew members jump with their chutes and ditch in a lake to give the ball guys a chance to escape. At least if they didn't make it out they could recover a complete body.
 

1964SuperStocker

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
War is Hell.
It was and much like racing, we owe so many of the technologies we use every day due to war and racing as the proving grounds of what works and doesn't. Last time I had the chance to jump up in a B24 and B17 for a fun ride, I couldn't shake how many of our service members died in those aircraft. A year after my flight in the Collings Foundation B17 here at the Ankeny Airport, 7 people lost their lives in it including the pilots that took me up for my flight. Sad, scary and just how life works out sometimes.
 

oleblu72

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I went through a B-17 in Cleveland Oh. several years ago we entered up front and you had to go through the Bombay to leave ,I darn near didn't make it because it was such a tight squeeze and I know I would never make it now.

Mark
 

Blk61409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 9
The father of a friend was a B-17 pilot at 19.

Had 35 missions, longer because no replacements.

Anyway, fast forward 50 plus years and I surprised him with a ride in a 17.
He bounced in the side door like he was 19 again, and said “watch your head here”, “oh here is where I would have to come back and kick the jammed bombs loose”, “be careful with this narrow step” and on and on.

It was as if he had just stepped out!!

Only 19 years old!! Unbelievable!

Definitely the Greatest Generation!
 
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