Warbird Information Exchange

Check out this cool video of a restored ball turret firing live .50 cals. Forget about the viagra...watching those .50 cal's barking really gets the blood flowing!

John

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... rch=Search

Neat video, John. When your ball turret is finished, do you have any plans to install guns and follow their lead? Would make one heck of a fun gun-range toy.

kevin

That thing is sweet. I would love to get my hands on a ball turret shell.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

That would be nice but it might be kind of difficult to find someone with two operational .50 cal machineguns willing to loan them out.

I'm almost certain this is the ball turret owned by the Stockton Field Aviation Museum. If memory serves me correct the museum managed to find this complete NOS turret still in the original crate. They made a support frame and mounted it to a tow trailer which is exactly like the ones used by AAF gunnery schools. Where they found it is anyone's guess.

As for my project...it will be a number of years yet before I'm even close to what these guys have. I have most of the internal components except for some gear assemblies, etc. The main problem I have is trying to find those darn shell pieces which are virtually non-existant. Since they were made of aluminum alloy they were highly prized by the scrappers after the war. The shell parts I acquired from Ed Kaleta were pretty much beyond salvage except for a few items like the armored gunners seat. If anyone out there comes across any you know who to call!

John

Funny story is that when we were rebuilding the B-17 "909" at KBVI, the replica ball turret was smashed in the crash landing. I guy came up to us, and said that he had a turret if we needed it. I said that we did, and he said " I will be back in the morning." The next day he came back with an entire ball turret. a real one complete with the suspension and everything. He told us that his wife had been after him to get rid of it for years because it was sitting between the washer and dryer in their basement.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

By shell pieces are you refering to the skins on the outside? If you have most of the frame and internals, the shell pieces would be the fun part to make. You could learn the skills and make them your self.

Gary has shown the use of a french wheel a couple of times in his posts about "Lil'. You can get one fairly sheap or even get the pieces and make a french wheel.

Cool story...I have to admit I'm a bit jealous!

This story sounds similar to the one I heard about how the E.A.A. museum in Oshkosh acquired their turret which is on static display. The curator said that some "old guy" restored the ball turret and apparently died a few years later. His wife ended up donating it to the museum because it was taking up too much room where she lived.

John

I think in order to make a ball turret shell, you need to know how to cast aluminum.....which really has nothing to do with what Gary has been doing. It would be nice if it were a simple sheetmetal structure, but I think the majority of the shell is cast aluminum.

Hi

I think they are called English wheels french wheels are found on Renaults

Thanks Mike

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IF YOU CAN FIND IT WE CAN FIX IT

Ah, but sand casting aluminum is yet another neat skill that can be done fairly easily on a small scale run. Make wood positives of the shells, make a large wood casting box and purchase some casting sand.

Little study here and there and it is possible to do it, and would make a great home project.

Correct...the shell components are made of cast aluminum. It can be done and has been done before by at least one turret restorer. The problem you run into is the shrinkage factor with aluminum. It you have a recast turret shell and try to mix in other original parts they won't fit due to the shrinkage problem. There's also the problem of convincing a museum or somebody with a complete turret shell to disassemble it and have bucks made for a mold.

John

I was trying to make a little joke...........didn't work.

Don't sell yourself short so quickly, sand casting is actually quite fun.

Hi

HE HE Harlan Aveezie has had a few cast but its not cheap. To try and cast them yourself is a bit of a challenge. #1 Sand casting takes a special type of sand, correct moisture is a must, too dry it will crumble ,too wet it will explode #2 These are large castings you must be able to melt enough aluminum to make it in one pour. You have to melt at least 15% more and have a furnace and crusable large enough for the job. #3 Do'nt make your cope and drag [the box for the mold] out of wood if you have a leak and molten aluminum contacts the wood you have a instant fire. #4 Protective gear is a must,it will burn through your clothes , shoes, or skin in an instant. To sum it up leave it to the pro's you will get a better job and the money you spend will be way less than doing it yourself

Thanks Mike

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IF YOU CAN FIND IT WE CAN FIX IT

Hey Mike...you guessed the right person. I believe Harland had two castings made but unfortunately the molds were never saved. I remember asking him how much it ran to have the castings made and if I remember correctly it was about $7,000.

Here are some pics of the turret items I currently have. As you can see I have most of the internal power unit complete. The electric motor is missing but one is arriving shortly along with an armored bottom section which will go perfectly with the armored seat I currently have. You can also see how thick the aluminum shell pieces are in the close-up. The shell is 1/4 thick aluminum!

John