Upper Turret I.D.

[PinecastleAAF]

B-17?

[Steve Nelson]

Looks like a standard Martin 250 electric turret, sans plexiglass. Said turret was used in the B-24, B-26, A-20, PV-1, and a number of other WWII aircraft..but NOT the B-17 (I believe the Fort used a Bendix turret.)

SN

[gary1954]

appears to be a photo taken in the ETO does it knot?

[DryMartini]

[quote="Steve Nelson"but NOT the B-17 (I believe the Fort used a Bendix turret.)
[/quote]

Actually, the B-17 used a Sperry upper turret.

[jmkendall]

I thought it was a gunnery training aid till I noticed the Kill markings....an interesting conversion....or maybe Dragon can do a model of it. They do alot of one off kits.

Interesting....

[Steve Nelson]

Actually, the B-17 used a Sperry upper turret.[/color]

Thanks for the clarification.

SN

[PinecastleAAF]

It was taken in the ETO. For a little halftrack history, prior to the D-Day landings a couple hundred M2's were converted to a configuration called the M16B Wasp by adding quad .50 mounts from trailers into the rear body in place of the troop seats. They were basically field expedient M16's. This is the first one I've seen with a aircraft turret.

[gary1954]

The GI is ingenious, with one can of OD spray paint, they can touch up all of the rust spots on every vehicle in the motor pool, and can "appropriate" almost anything required to accomplish the (or his) mission. I can only imagine that the "engineer" that "appropriated" this gun traded a C-Ration for that gun system; I wonder how he came but it. Great photo for a modeler to go on.