Warbird Information Exchange

Howdy folks,

Just wanted to let you all know that our project to make the ball turret on Aluminum Overcast operational is in the home stretch. We hung it back in the airplane this afternoon, and plan a full-up operational test this week. Sadly, no operational guns, but nearly everything else will work.

If anyone out there in Warbird Land has a spare fire cut-off cam for a B-17, please PM me.

There should be a video on the EAA website sometime in the near future. I'll let you know when it's out.

Chris

Seeing that Aluminum Overcast was the very first B-17 I had the opportunity to go in, thats cool news!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Here is the turret in question... As seen this past summer at Caldwell NJ.

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That is going to be cool.., are you going to sell.., turret rides?

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S.

Now that would be pretty darn kool. A tight squeeze for me however.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Chris,
Sorry for the delay. The turret looks great! I could not locate the small "C" shaped cam parts on both ends of the linkage but I'll keep looking. I thought for sure I would find some by today but I failed. The package should arrive on Friday, no later than 10:30 AM. I'll PM you with the tracking number.
Albert

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Albert Stix Jr.
"Work is the curse of the drinking class"

That's great news Chris.

And it's reminded me of a long-held itch to find out more about these........

Looking at TAdan's photo's, which version of the ball turret is fitted to Aluminium Overcast?
It appears to have oval holes for both barrels to come through, with adjustable plates.
I've seen some with one circular and one oval hole too (the "cheek" in my collection of broken ball turret bits has the circular hole.)

Did all the versions have that stepped top panel, or just the ones with the external ammunition feeds (A-2B, A-2C?)?
On the externally-fed turrets was the original pattern internal ammo hatch retained for access?

Sorry for so many questions dragging the thread off topic slightly, but I know the Turret Experts are around these parts.

All the best,
PB

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Paul Bellamy

401BG Association Historian & Honorary Life Member
401BG Historical Society (UK) Member
1st Air Division HQ Historical Society (UK) Founder Member
Director of Archives & Collections, Airfield Research Group Archive, Alconbury
RAF Alconbury Base Historian

Paul,

Here is an inside shot of the turret we have on display at VFM. I'll try to snap some photos of the entire ball tomorrow or Sunday.

It seems ours has one round and one oval barrel opening. I don't know the build date of this turret but it was never installed in an airplane, so I suppose it's a fairly late one. I am far from knowing anything about ball turrets other than to say it makes one think when you crawl in there and shut the entry door.

Scott

Here is a web page about the Ball Turret at our little museum. There is even a video of the turret in action!

http://www.twinbeech.com/sperry_ball_turret.htm

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Paul,

Here are two photos of the turret we have on display at VFM. Our feed panel isn't installed and I don't know if we have it or not. Again, I profess ignorance on the ball, but would the "slotted" gun opening be for adjustment of right gun to give the gunner a convergence pattern/range that he preferred?





Scott

Just a quick update:

The power-on test is now scheduled for Wednesday. Everything has taken just a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I think we're back on track.

Thanks for the interest!

For all you B-17 operators out there: What are your proceedures for the ball turrets in your airplanes? Do you let the general public sit in and/or operate them? We have two different opinions in the organization at the moment. One is to sell "rides" in the turret (only on the ground, however, with the elevation DISENGAGED), and the other opinion is to have one of the tour mechanics give demonstrations. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Chris

The ball turret on "909" is functional, but we do not allow the general public to get into the turret. There are some videos of the turret in action on the ground and in flight, but we rarely do more than open it for people to view.

If you are going to start operating it on the ground, you are going to need some sort of ground power unit, or something to keep the battery in the aircraft charged.

Howdy folks,

We successfully ran the ball turret on Aluminum Overcast this afternoon. Just a few minor mop-up items that we need to address, but it's operational again. I have to admit, it was an awful lot of fun to put it through its paces, and it was pretty comfortable to sit in.

It looks like we'll be training some of the people involved with the tour to give ground demonstrations of the turret. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem feasible sell turret rides at this time. That seems like a lawsuit waiting for a place to happen. I'll keep you all posted.

Chris

Too bad. It would probably be pretty good scratch to sell rides "in the ball". You could remotely operate the ball so the "rider" wouldn't or couldn't. You could also install propane guns so the "rider" could shoot down the next fw they see....