Most Dangerous Position on a Bomber....?

[cheddar cheese]

You say that when the rear turret is in full rotation, the door is pointing outside yes? Because this was how the gunner bailed out. Perhaps it was armoured so that when the turret was rotated around fully to say, the port side, it was designed to protect the gunner from enemy aircraft attacking from the starboard side?

Originally Posted by the lancaster kicks ass

what i find really weird is that the lanc's rear turret (dunno if it was on all planes) but the entry doors were armoured, but they were behind the pilot, what's the point??

I don't think the Lancaster rear gunner could get out of the turret in flight (not sure about this). The rear turret on the Lanc has a huge sweep, so you could be aiming hard left and be attacked from the right. And there is also flak to consider.

Also, when you say "armored" that is subject to qualification. As I recall, there is no armor plate on the Lanc thicker than a quarter inch, and little of that.

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Lunatic

[Medvedya]

The rear gunner could get out - but he would have to crank the turret hard left or right and then open up the turret doors behind him.

[Hot Space]

......................but he would lose his Sandwichs though if he did that

Hot Space

Originally Posted by Medvedya

The rear gunner could get out - but he would have to crank the turret hard left or right and then open up the turret doors behind him.

Right. What i meant was he was not able to leave the turret and go into the main fuselage of the plane.

[Nonskimmer]

In my grandfather's opinion (former Lanc pilot), the tail gunner had the worst deal of all.

In his early training on the type, the pilots and navigators would have to cross-train as well as rotate through the gunner positions, and he swears that the consensus was that the tail gunner position was what scared the **** out of them all.

That was one squadron's view, mind you. It may well have differed elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

In my grandfather's opinion (former Lanc pilot), the tail gunner had the worst deal of all.

In his early training on the type, the pilots and navigators would have to cross-train as well as rotate through the gunner positions, and he swears that the consensus was that the tail gunner position was what scared the s**t out of them all.

That was one squadron's view, mind you. It may well have differed elsewhere.

Hmmm... well most lanc's didn't have a ball turret so that might explain it?

My uncle (long dead now) was a bombadier on a B-17 (and later the B-29) and he said they called the ball turret the "coffin ball" for a reason.

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[Hot Space]

I would guess the Ball Turret would be much more frighting then ANY Tail Turret going. It must of been hell trying to get out when your plane was hit and was going down.

Hot Space

[Nonskimmer]

I think I could see why! You were really kind of hung out there, in a ball turret. And hell to escape from, I would think!

[Medvedya]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

Right. What i meant was he was not able to leave the turret and go into the main fuselage of the plane.

Oh no, that's not a problem - the tail is open at the back. You just can't see it, since the turret is in the way. Here - look at this close up. You can just about see a tiny gap at the bottom of the rear of the turret below that round silver bit.

Well, I'm not sure, but I think in a documentary I saw recently they said the tail turret gunner could not move into the fuselage during a flight. Are you saying they could?

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Lunatic

[Medvedya]

Here's a picture inside - those are the doors to the rear turret.

[Nonskimmer]

It was a bit of a squeeze, so I'm told.

[Medvedya]

It must have been! Especially with an electrically heated suit on!

It would be like the Michelin Man trying to climb into a goldfish bowl.

TY Medvedya.

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Lunatic