Aero Vintage Books

Last weekend we had our season ending fly day at the Lone Star Flight Museum. While taking time to study the B-17 ball turret on Thunderbird I began to imagine what it must have been like to be a ball turret gunner.
I couldn't find anyone that knew whether or not anyone at the museum had ever actually flown in the ball turret. I didn't see anyone small enough in stature to even begin to fit in the thing. I would suppose that a lot of guys died trapped inside. If the bomber got a lethal flak hit and a bail out order was given he would have needed help getting out so he could have a chance to bail out. If there was an electrical failure he was
just a screwed. Any thoughts from anyone. Has anyone flown in a ball turret lately?

The Discovery Channel had a show on the Ball Turret which aired
about a month ago. It was meant to be about the Ball Turret, but
after about 5 minutes, it became more of a B-17 show - not that
I minded. I ReplayTV-ed the thing, but as with most Discovery
Channel shows, it may be available from their website.

Height wasn't a big factor for a ball turret gunner, during the war. I know three ex-ball gunners, two B-17 and one B-24, and one of the B-17 guys is about 5'7", another about 5'11" and the B-24 guy is a little over 6 feet tall.

This wasn't the first time..but we opened the ball turret of 909 enroute to florida maint.. Four of us flew in it for about 20 minutes each hand cranking it around. I can say that the first few minutes are very very disorientating. The view is quite spectacular and the ride is almost eerie. Its really quite, all you hear is the wind noise and it is very bright inside the turret, when comparing to being open on the ground. You feel very detached from the rest of the crew and the airframe. I have posted some shots on webshots. BTW I am 6'1 and fit quite comfortably in the turret...even with flight gear it would not be impossible. With the ammo boxes on the outside I can virtually stretch my legs straight out...its not bad at all..would not want to go to combat in it for sure!!!

Jim Harley

http://community.webshots.com/user/jfharley