"Cheek" gun mount?

Mike Berry · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:53 am

Could this be a "cheek" gun mount?

Regards,
Mike

51fixer · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:15 am

As a guess TBM or TBF lower gun position in the rear
Where was this found?

Rich

51fixer · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:54 pm

51fixer wrote:

As a guess TBM or TBF lower gun position in the rear
Where was this found?

Rich

Hardware appears to be US as Brits used slot screws and different looking nuts.
Exterior colors look Blue and Gray

Rich

Fortress Fan · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 4:28 pm

No sorry, the cheek gun mounts were K-5 and this is not one of them.

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:30 pm

Its a ventral gun mount for a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura. The slot is for the twin 30's.

If there is a chance you would part with it please keep me in mind. We have both a PV-1 and a PV-2 now so I would like to buy it if it is for sale or up for trade.

I probably have a photo of the installation too. I will dig it out if you want me to.

Taigh

Mike Berry · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:04 pm

Thanks everyone,

It was recovered 35-40yrs ago from a local farmer who bought ex-RCAF airframes after the war, including Cansos, Liberators & Venturas. I've been goggling anything & everything B-24, but nothing close!

Taigh Ramey wrote:

Its a ventral gun mount for a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura. The slot is for the twin 30's.

If there is a chance you would part with it please keep me in mind. We have both a PV-1 and a PV-2 now so I would like to buy it if it is for sale or up for trade.

I probably have a photo of the installation too. I will dig it out if you want me to.

Taigh

I'll definitely keep you mind if there are any plans to part with it. If you get a chance to post a photo it would be greatly appreciated.

Was there a swiveling armoured windscreen in the ventral position?

Regards,
Mike

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:31 pm

There was a twin 30 cal gun mount like what goes in the back of the SBD or SB2C or the bow turret of the PBY. They are all similar but actually different mounts. The one for the Ventura has a stud or bolt that goes into the hole pictured on the one side of your mount. The whole center casting and gun mount will pivot up and down and the twin gun mount traverses from side to side inside the casting.

Here is a shot showing the whole installation and a close up. In the closeup you can see the springs on either side that helps to balance the heavy gun mount to make it easier for the gunner.

There wasn't any swiveling armored glass in this mount. Not a lot of protection, just the ability to shoot back with very limited vision :shock:

Mike Berry · **Posted:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:45 am

Thank you very much Taigh!

Could the springs also keep the muzzles from striking the ground?

Mike

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:03 pm

I don't think the short 30 cal gun barrels would hit the ground on the PV-1 but I am not certain. I believe the springs are simply to balance the guns.

This balancing act can be seen on many different aircraft flexible gun installations. The weight of the guns and ammo in the feed chutes are pretty heavy and if the gunner had to lift this weight all of the time it would wear him out pretty quickly. The late B-17s had a large spring in the mount of the waist window to balance the load similar to your mount. The nose guns typically had cable or rope from the gun over pulleys to tension springs or bungees for balance. The B-25 waist even used sliding window regulators attached to the guns with cables.

SPANNERmkV · **Posted:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:13 pm

I LOVE WIX!

Good find on the parts and the info.

Anybody got anything insightful about the primer "colour" appearing more British than US?

SPANNER the amateur

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:11 pm

Here is a shot of the outside of the ventral or tunnel gun in the PV-1. The primer can easily be attributed to the fact that the RCAF and British both used Venturas. In fact our PV-1 was with 115 BR out of Tofino thanks to information kindly provided by Anthony Jarvis.

Mike Berry · **Posted:** Fri Sep 03, 2010 8:23 am

Taigh Ramey wrote:

Here is a shot of the outside of the ventral or tunnel gun in the PV-1. The primer can easily be attributed to the fact that the RCAF and British both used Venturas. In fact our PV-1 was with 115 BR out of Tofino thanks to information kindly provided by Anthony Jarvis.

Thanks for the photo!

Was the mount removed from your PV-1 for postwar use?

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:34 am

Hello Mike,

Yes our PV-1 was modified into a corporate aircraft and the whole ventral gunners position was removed. I think I can use the PV-2 ventral structure to rebuild it but the PV-2 used a twin 50 turret instead of the hand flexible twin 30 set up. This is why I am more than interested in your mount. I have the twin 30 gun cradle that will go into your mount and a few of the ammo boxes, chutes and feedway items.

PV-1 stuff is hard to come by.

Thanks,
Taigh

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"Cheek" gun mount?

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