eBay: B-24 tail turret!

[K5DH]

Here's that perfect "stocking stuffer" for your Man Cave!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-WW2-B-24-L ... 19b8a0961e

(in case the link doesn't work, it's eBay item nr. 110471714334)

[Shay]

"Shows signs of flak damage & is most likely a combat veteran" Quite a statement to make without provenence. How does one discern the differnce between "Flak Damage" and damage caused by Jimmy and the good ole boys in the back forty with his buck rifle?

Is there documentation, from sources like Consolidated, that relate what serial #'d turrets were installed on which Serila #'d aircraft?

Shay
___________
Semper Fortis

[Ryan Keough]

I think the funny part is that he gives a rather substantial list of what it DOESN'T fit... I think he must have gotten a lot of those dumb eBay zombie questions like "Will this fit on my Plymouth Belvedere?"

[Robbie Roberts]

I think the funny part is that he gives a rather substantial list of what it DOESN'T fit... I think he must have gotten a lot of those dumb eBay zombie questions like "Will this fit on my Plymouth Belvedere?"

Nope, but it is a GREAT way to get your listing posted to a lot of random aircraft searches, where you check the "Search within listing" box...

I miss my 1969 Plymouth Belvedere... Thanks for bringing it up

Robbie

[Jack Cook]

It says it won't fit on my P-51. Well then screw that POS

[K5DH]

The ad text mentions that it was built early in the war, or before the war. That sure looks to me to be a turret from an "H" or "J" model Liberator, which were note early- or pre-war.

[RMAllnutt]

I think the funny part is that he gives a rather substantial list of what it DOESN'T fit... I think he must have gotten a lot of those dumb eBay zombie questions like "Will this fit on my Plymouth Belvedere?"

That's just a convenient way of getting keywords listed in the ad in the hopes that someone searching for items related to those aircraft might then find the turret, and perhaps be interested in buying said turret. It's a common technique, and does actually pay dividends. I must admit though that I did a double-take when I saw the list though!

Cheers,
Richard

[TimAPNY]

It says it won't fit on my P-51. Well then screw that POS

That was what I was thinking.

Tim

[astixjr]

I know that A-6 tail turret looks pretty bad but I would be hard pressed to even think of another one out there that is half as complete. I wonder if this is the one that was sitting at Aero Trader's storage lot? If an A-15 B-24 nose turret showed up on ebay in this condition I'd by hauling all the family Xmas gifts back to the stores for refunds so I could bid on it! I suspect I know who the seller is and if I'm guessing correctly, he's one of the top turret collector/restoration guys in the country. I know he can spot the difference between an early A-15 and a late A-15 so he can probably do the same with the A-6. The "flak damage" might be a stretch but lots of B-17s and B-4s came back home to the U.S. with battle damage so maybe it could be combat scars.

On a related note, while shopping for some used antique aircraft books today I stumbled onto a copy of Allan G. Blue's The B-24 Libertator and Rhodes Arnold's The B-24/PB4Y In Combat. Both are hard to find. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to myself.

[Pogo]

...dumb eBay zombie questions...

Now that made the whole thread worthwhile right there -- LOL!!!

[Shay]

That sure looks to me to be a turret from an "H" or "J" model Liberator, which were note early- or pre-war.

How does one tell? I looked at Strawberry Bitch's Tail turret today which is a "D" model, but from my neophyte point of view it looked remarkably the same.

Also, you can see it in the ebay turret pictures and I also saw it on SB's turret, is that a camera? If so is it, like in the fighters, triggered when the .50s are fired? Has any footage survived?

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[astixjr]

That sure looks to me to be a turret from an "H" or "J" model Liberator, which were note early- or pre-war.

How does one tell? I looked at Strawberry Bitch's Tail turret today which is a "D" model, but from my neophyte point of view it looked remarkably the same.

Also, you can see it in the ebay turret pictures and I also saw it on SB's turret, is that a camera? If so is it, like in the fighters, triggered when the .50s are fired? Has any footage survived?

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Shay,
I'm no expert on turrets but I'm frequently mistaken for one. I know very little about the A-6 but since it was on the B-24, I have learned a little bit while sorting parts and researching the other three turret types (A-15, Martin A3C, and Sperry A-13 ball) that Emerson built for the B-24. I think the A-6A had staggered guns, one was about six inches forward on the one next to it. I think the A-6B had guns mounted with no stagger. Maybe the A-6Bs were mostly or only on the tail of the B-24/PB4Y? I can tell you that trying to sort out the differences in B-24 turret configurations between the five plants that built all 19,256 planes is really complicated. Maybe "complicated" is not the right word, I've heard the words "Byzantine complexity" used a few times and it's probably more accurate.

Some turrets had gun cameras that recorded just like the ones used in fighter planes. You would think some footage survives but I've never seen or heard of any turret gun camera images. Anyone else? Taigh?

[Second Air Force]

It's been a while since I worked on the B-24 research, but Albert is correct. That is an early staggered-gun A-6. I would LOVE to have that under the tree. These were installed on the D and also found their way into the noses of the earliest nose turret conversions.

Cameras were installed in some CONUS trainers so that students could be scored during gunnery sessions. I wonder if that might be the reason this turret has one mounted. It's a neat turret, regardless.

Scott

[K5DH]

That's what I like about WIX. . . no matter what the question, someone has the right answer!

I stand corrected on the H/J guess. Scott sez it's early, like the seller sez. I surrender!

[Second Air Force]

Here's a link with a pretty good comparison of some of the turrets used on the B-24. http://browningmgs.com/AirGunnery/07_tail.htm

Pooner or Taigh can probably rattle off all the different versions they used. I can think of five different turrets depending on which contractor made them, and I think I'm missing a couple.

Scott