Warbird Information Exchange

Brandon K wrote,
As for installing live weapons on aircraft, that may require some additional approvals from the FAA and you also have to consider the spent cartridges and links that will be dropping off the aircraft. I'd hate to get hit in the head with a .50 cal shell at terminal velocity. Might not be fatal, but I'm sure it would leave a mark, at least temporarily!
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One of my best and dearest friends was a tanker(M-48) in Vietnam,1967-68.
one of the stores he used to tell me was the time the radio in his tank died,The Genius in command of his tank decided that he(my buddy)should play human intercom between his and other tanks.They were involved in some sort of firefight at this time and assisting some Marines.As my buddy was running from one tank to the other,some Marines yelled to my buddy to get down!As he was asking them why,An F-4 Phantom flew over head with its
externally mounted 20 MM cannon blazing away.As the Very hot and Very fast moving shell casings came raining down upon him and everything else in sight, he immediately knew why the Marines told him to get down.He said that a 20MM shell casing ,moving at around Mach-1 ,will definitely leave a mark! Tim

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"WHAT ME WORRY?"

Wasn,t there a problem with P40,s blowing out their blast tubes sometimes?Or was it a case of metal fatigue after extended firing sessions?I would hate to be the bloke running after the P40 trying to catch the spent casings and links in a box..

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Those who think it,s impossible should leave the ones doing it alone..
http://www.spitfireprojecta58-27.com/

As long as the ATFE tax ($200/gun) is paid and you have your ATFE approval, you can legally own a fully automatic weapon in the US. As mentioned, tho, one must also determine if is legal to own one in your particular state.

As for cost, well, I've seen AN/M-2 and AN/M-3's in the $25,000 to $50,000 price range. Each. And, as ASTIXJR mentioned, it's about $2.50 - $3.50 per round - not to mention an additional $.25 - $.50 per link!
Go figure THAT cost @1200 rds/min/gun!
(Auto weapons are fun until you have to feed them!)

There are, however, companies such as IRAC who make simulated weapons that use propane or butane that produce a similar effect, and are a WHOLE lot cheaper!

http://www.iracinc.com/replica.htm

.

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Bob

Here are the two images that accompanied the Press Release from Wanaka.

PeterA

I know you can own automatic weapons in New Zealand on certain types of weapons licences - unlike Australia - but I'm curious to see who's going to bore sight the six 50's on a P-40, (see below) ,what happens if they have a runaway gun, the list goes on etc.

Nice PR for the show, not that I think it needs it, but I'll reserve judgment until its actualy done


http://yarchive.net/mil/ww2_fighter_boresight.html

USAAF doctrine called for generating a "lethal density pattern"--the most bullets passing through a given space in a given time.

But the AAF was also concerned with the less than remarkable gunnery of the vast majority of fighter pilots. So the official recommendation was to haveeach pair of guns boresighted to converge 100 yards beyond the previous.

A typical recommended pattern for a six wing gun figher would be 250 yards forthe first pair, 350 yards for the second and 450 yards for the third. Thatway, it was figured, the bad shot would have a chance of getting at least some hits.

Most 5AFfighter squadrons flying wing gun planes boresighted all the weapons for 200yards, but some squadrons boresighted them for 100 yards. As new pilots weretold when joining a squadron, "If you can't goose the squint with yourspinner, you're too far away."

Whether boresighted for 100 or 200 yards, with the rounds from every gunpassing through an 18-inch square, a brief burst was all that was needed tofinish an opponent--if you hit him. Thus the insistence on closing in to"can't miss" range. That was, of course, easier said than done, taking a great deal of flying skill, self-discipline--and guts.

I kiwi shooting blanks

I've always wished the BBMF would do something like this, afterall they don't exactly need any permits or anything, mind you not sure about our lunatic Health and Safety laws these days in the UK.

There was one exception at a UK show 20 years ago though. I remember the 1988 Great Warbirds Display at West Malling, B-17 'Sally B' still had her live waist gunner position .50 cals fitted for the Memphis Belle filming which had just finished a week or so before, and she made a few low passes along the crowd line with the Bapty's armourer letting rip with the .50.......

Alas, that was one of the the years I didn't take the video camera.....

Those are blanks. Still should sound pretty awesome when they fire them.

Have fired blanks similar to (if not exactly like) the ones they're loading, but in an M-2 on a vehicle mount. Real hoot! All the sound and visual effects you want...

..Lookin' at the amount of rounds they're loading into the wing boxes....Like to have the US value of that in my bank account!
(Plus, it'd help pay off the sailplane! )

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Bob

A little more about machine gun ownership in the US (Knob Creek, Kentucky machine gun shoot):

http://current.com/items/87302871_shoot ... ns?xid=200

Looks like they are putting in The Whole Nine Yards, which co-incidently is the title of the book about the restoration of that particular P-40.

How much extra weight do you think that ammo adds to the aircraft and is there a noticable difference in the handling of the aircraft in the air?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this year at Warbirds over Whereever, for your admission price of only $372.95, you will see..."

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Several of my co-workers own operational AK-47s and similar machine guns. They fire them at the shooting range or on private property out in west Texas. I recently saw some gun enthusiasts on the TV news firing .50's and similar large military machine guns. There's at least one restored WW2 Army halftrack here in the Metroplex that has a pair of operational .50's on it. They frequently fire them at air shows and military vehicle shows (shooting blanks, of course!). You just have to comply with ATF rules and background checks. It's America. We have the right to bear arms.

I'm sure someone (HGUCSU? sorry, dude... couldn't resist! just havin' a little fun with ya) will post video from the P-40 shoot-em-up on YouTube or some similar online venue. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing it!

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

If I'm not mistaken Mike Dillon has a Hughes 500 or similar configured with live weapons on board.