Turn Ammo Into Noise: WW2 Ball Turret with twin .50 cals

I need a car with that mounted on it. And a skinny gunner.
 
Another item to add to the list of things to get when I hit the lottery. This and that underwater beer boat thingy. If this keeps up ya'll will read about another lottery winner flat broke after 5 years.
 
I worked with a guy who was the top gunner and flight engineer on B24s in WW2. Among other stories he told me about was having his guns run away on him once when test firing them before going over the European coast and going through the all the rounds in the belt magazine.

My daughter who is 5'4" and I toured the Collings foundation B24. She viewed the ball turret and didn't see any way that she could possibly fit into it.
 
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The B-24 B-17s and P51 shown are part of the Collins Foundation. They just completed a huge museum up in Massachusetts and their aircraft tour each summer. They came to Raleigh in Oct of 2017.

Bomber camp is held in CA each spring. https://www.bombercamp.org/
 
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The ball turret

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This may have been in the B-17 that we also toured.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
Randall Jarrell, 1914 - 1965
From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
 
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The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
Randall Jarrell, 1914 - 1965
From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
Read that in high school. It was in one of my literature texts. Wonder if they still do.
 
Read that in high school. It was in one of my literature texts. Wonder if they still do.
Yeah I am highly doubtful anyone at school would allow it to be read much less from a textbook, lest we offend a snowflake. Perhaps If it WAS in text books the High School football teams would be standing at attention, on the sidelines, with their hand across their heart while the National anthem played instead of kneeling like a bunch of French cowards.
 
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My dad was dual MOS trained as an aerial gunner and an aircraft A&E in WW2. Although demand was greater at the time for the mechanical skills to keep then in the air, he always had a special place in his heart for these Brownings, and qualified with high marks despite getting in deep trouble a few times for shooting the towed targets off of the tow line. I wish I had written down the stories, what I would give for a few beers and a story session today. :(
 
"Turn Ammo Into Noise:"
Remember before you turn that ammo into noise, ya gotta turn money into ammo. At the price of .50 caliber ammo that can get expensive REALLY FAST.
 
"Turn Ammo Into Noise:"
Remember before you turn that ammo into noise, ya gotta turn money into ammo. At the price of .50 caliber ammo that can get expensive REALLY FAST.
Umm... Couldn't find your reading glasses this morning?

:D
 
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