Bendix Type "R" Upper Turret

[warbird_patrick]

Hello all,

I am trying to locate a source for the technical drawings/blueprints for the Bendix type "R" upper turret. The service manual shows a good break down of the parts but would be nice to have the drawings/blueprints as well.

Thanks

Patrick

[43-2195]

Try these guys, they are very helpful.

Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
National Air & Space Museum
Rm 3100, MRC322
Washington, DC 20013-7012
United States of America

[turret nate]

We (CAF MN wing) have a working type A in B25 Miss Mitchell feel free to PM me if you need any detailed pics. All we have is the standard service manuals (types A, N, and R), in addition to whats in various B25 operation / maintenance manuals (which have about the same basic info as the turret manuals). If you are able to track down a detailed blue print beyond the 2 page fold out in the Bendix manual I would be very interested.

[warbird_patrick]

Hello all,

Thanks for all the responses. I did contact the Smithsonian Institution via email about six weeks ago, to see if they have the microfilm and never got a response back. Maybe another trip to their archives again is in the near future. I have talked with Carl S and Jay W but have not spoken with Taigh. I do have all the manuals for both the "A" and "R" turrets, including some 36" wide high definition scans we did off of the assembly drawings from the manual. We have two Type "R" turrets, the plan is to make one operational among all axis and to be installed in the airplane, and the other static.

Parts are still out there, Carl S and Jay W both have parts for these turrets but when they don't it is turning over many rocks to find them. Biggest problem I keep running into is cracked castings or broken castings from being abused over the years. I was thinking of building some of the missing components from scratch in CAD then via CNC or re-casting them, but would need a good part to work off of or the drawings.

So far we have just been dissembling and taking inventory. We are very fortunate that both the lower and upper gear boxes are complete and in serviceable condition.

Patrick

[turret nate]

Do you have good amplidynes?

I have a few videos of our restored Bendix, as well as the Bell tail turret, operating at http://www.youtube.com/type99mg

[Mike Berry]

We have the curved armour plate section for behind the gunner's head....any idea which model it would be for?

[Cvairwerks]

Patrick: NASM's microfilm stuff was inaccessable for about 10 months. A normal response time prior to the move was 4-10 weeks. With a significant stack up of requests to plow through, I wouldn't get too worked up if it was January before you got an answer back from them.