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Post by baz62 on Jul 25, 2014 15:59:18 GMT 12
This chap has been gathering aircraft gun turrets and rebuilding them, some to working condition.
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Post by Andy Wright on Jul 28, 2014 15:57:37 GMT 12
Silly grin.
Did you see the footage of the working top turret built for the Lib in Melbourne? I can only think of the group's Facebook page as the source - B-24 Liberator Memorial - Werribee.
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Post by shorty on Jul 29, 2014 10:00:01 GMT 12
His biggest fans are probably Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo!
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Post by nuuumannn on Jul 29, 2014 15:08:10 GMT 12
Awesome! Really interesting, although Boulton Paul turrets were electro hydraulic, being powered electrically through slip rings in the base of the turret and fitted with its own self contained hydraulic system, not relying on the aircraft's hydraulics to operate it.
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Post by komata on Jul 29, 2014 16:05:59 GMT 12
I noticed too that the re-builder didn't clarify the fact that the BP Defiant was a fighter aircraft; perhaps he simply didn't know...
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Post by nuuumannn on Jul 29, 2014 17:02:36 GMT 12
I suspect he might have; he appears quite knowledgeable. It's interesting to note that the first American built bomber fitted with power operated turrets was the Liberator Mk.II, which had Boulton Paul turrets in the dorsal and tail position. The aircraft were built in the USA and shipped to the UK without turrets, which were fitted on arrival. The dorsal turret was unique in the Mk.II because it was aft of the wing box, rather than just behind the cockpit as in later B-24s. Although the USAAC recieved a few Liberator IIs, calling them LB-30s rather than using the B-24 number, the type was specifically built for British requirements and they were primarily used as transports by the Americans. I wonder if he has a Boulton Paul turret in his collection awaiting restoration? That'll keep him busy.
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Post by komata on Jul 29, 2014 20:03:47 GMT 12
A Boulton Paul turret in the US would probably be somewhat rare I would suspect, especially a 'bent' one, although such a turret could have been on a returning 'Lend Lease' LB-30 or Hudson (?) after the war had ended. That is however speculation on my part, as I can't think of any British types which would have been scrapped in the USA / Canada after the cessation of hostilities. Any other possible sources for such a unit?
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