early b-17 ball turret side panel window on ebay $19!

[Dan K]

t.

For example, here's an item for sale off a "Billy Bomber". Is its function really what the vendor describes? Rare? Common? I don't know. Perhaps someone can clarify.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-WWII-AIRCR ... 5af8f8e769

I'm guessing B-25 photo recon version, the F-10. Maybe the seller is being clever by saying billy bomber instead of mitchell?

Gee whiz...I only used this one as an example of all the "whatzits?" that turn up on ebay, but now you've gone and piqued my curiosity.

A quick google turned up more of these window/port/lens things:


http://ventura.craigslist.org/atq/4235373486.html

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/ ... d-for-what


Looks like we've at least got a part number for it now: 82-310902

One online source suggests that 82- is a prefix for the B-25C. Does anyone have a parts book that could give these UFOs an identity?

[Dan K]

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... p?p=115225

But was it correctly labeled the first time?

[17f]

Found it on ebay - no connection to the seller. Not sure if military or not:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-aircraf ... 2eccf24a7c

[Taigh Ramey]

If I'm not mistaken the optical glass hatch was used in conjunction with the lower turret on the C/D model B-25's. The gunner would normally be hunched over the lower turret looking through the periscope to control the turret. I believe the optical hatch would replace a normal hatch and provide a wide field of view for the gunner to scan for other aircraft. Since the gunner was basically stationed in the middle of the aircraft over the turret he could not easily see out and around the aircraft. This was supposed to help him to be able to scan.

I have trouble understanding just how this worked as I would think that trying to see attacking fighters through a fisheye lens like this would be real hard to do.

It was stowed in its protective cover when not in use on the side of the fuselage if I remember correctly. I'll have to pull the NAA factory C/D maintenance manual as I think it has some good details on this hatch.

It seems like there were many attempts at lower turrets and tunnel guns that proved pretty hard to see out of and use. They seem to have been removed over time.

Hard to beat the ball turret for complete coverage and much better visibility. Even the late war GE remote turret system in the A-26, where the gunner had to use a periscope, never really caught on.

As for the glass on eBay these have shown up fairly regularly over time. They are kind of a novelty as there are many more of these optical hatches surviving than C\D's. I think things like this survived because they could have been used for something else. What's the modern term: repurposed.

I have seen lots of optics from WWII gun sights and cameras being sold in surplus and scientific type stores. The optics in WWII were some of the highest quality and quite desirable. The B-25 hatch looks darn impressive and often the asking price for them is impressive too.

Cool piece of WWII history to hang on the wall or put in the Warbird man cave

Last edited by Taigh Ramey on Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[17f]

That`s pretty cool. I`ll have to confess my ignorance: I thought maybe it was perhaps a windscreen for an open cockpit trainer, sitting on its aft surface.

[Taigh Ramey]

Sorry for the confusion. I was talking about the eBay from earlier in the thread:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-WWII-AIRCRAFT-180-DEL-RICCIO-NORTH-AMERICAN-BILLY-BOMBER-LENS-AVIATION-/390724118377?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item5af8f8e769