What is a dorsal turret?
What is a dorsal turret?
A dorsal gunner, mid-upper gunner or top gunner is an air gunner responsible for operating a gun position or turret located on the upper (dorsal) fuselage, between the cockpit and tail of some military aircraft.
How did tail gunners not shoot the tail?
There was a feeler arm (that looked as if it might have been borrowed from a Dalek) below each gun and when these came in contact with the fairing they inhibited depression of the gun barrels to prevent the gunner shooting at the airframe; there were also interrupter cut outs to stop him shooting at the fins as the …
How did ball turrets work?
The Sperry ball turret was very small in order to reduce drag, and was typically operated by the smallest man of the crew. To enter the turret, the turret was moved until the guns were pointed straight down. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and occupied his cramped station.
What is a ventral turret?
English: Revolving turrets with machine guns mounted on the underside of bomber aircraft of the World War II era and shortly after (i.e. 1940s – 1950s).
What was a turret used for?
Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification. As their military use faded, turrets were used for decorative purposes, as in the Scottish baronial style.
What is a turret on a ship?
Turrets were weapon mounts designed to protect the crew and mechanism of the artillery piece and with the capability of being aimed and fired in many directions as a rotating weapon platform.
What were ball turrets made of?
Plexiglas
Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of B-17s. Armed with two 50-caliber machine guns and capable of rotating 360 degrees, the ball turret gunner was responsible for protecting the otherwise-exposed underbelly of the flying fortress.
What is waist gunner?
The primary duty of the waist gunner was to defend the aircraft against the enemy. On a B17, there were two waist gunners located directly opposite one another. This made maneuvering sometimes difficult, and until later models of the B17, frostbite was also an issue, as the waist gunners stood near open window areas.
What is the meaning of The Death of the ball turret gunner?
Metaphor. “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” uses intense metaphors of wombs, dreams, and awakenings to evoke the speaker’s innocence—and his terrible death. Right from the start, the poem metaphorically connects the speaker’s experience as a ball turret gunner to the experience of being inside a womb.
What is turret system?
Turret name refers the rotating function of this large equipment to facilitate the rotation of the vessel according to winds, waves and dominating current while the risers remain connected to a fix part on the seabed.
What is the difference between a tower and a turret?
A turret is simply a small, circular tower attached to a larger structure, usually on a corner or angle. The difference between a turret and an actual tower is that turrets typically don’t start at the ground level and, rather, cantilever out from another upper level.
What is the difference between a turret and a tower?
Do planes still have tail gunners?
The final combat usage of tail gunners by the United States Air Force occurred in 1991, during the Gulf War.
Do Bombers still have tail gunners?
The B-52 remains in the US Air Force arsenal because it is durable, economical, and effective. The fact that B-52s once featured guns as a defensive armament is evidence of how long they have been in service. The bombers never bristled with turrets, as World War II bombers did.
Who designed the ball turret?
the Sperry Corporation
One of the most unique combat positions of World War Two was the Sperry Ball Turret. Designed and built by the Sperry Corporation of Lake Success, L.I., the tiny turret protected the underside of B-17 and B-24 bombers from enemy fighter attack.
What is the meaning of turret?
Definition of turret. 1 : a little tower specifically : an ornamental structure at an angle of a larger structure.
What is a naval gun turret?
A modern naval gun turret (A French 100 mm naval gun on the Maillé-Brézé pictured) allows firing of the cannons via remote control. Loading of ammunition is also often done by automatic mechanisms.
What is the layout of a turret?
Layout. In naval terms, turret traditionally and specifically refers to a gun mounting where the entire mass rotates as one, and has a trunk that projects below the deck. The rotating part of a turret seen above deck is the gunhouse, which protects the mechanism and crew, and is where the guns are loaded.
What is the meaning of dorsal?
: relating to or being on or near the surface of the body that in humans is the back but in most animals is the upper surface a fish’s dorsal fin. dorsal.