Turret Gunner Controls

[Flying Pencil]

Originally Posted by winny

I was refering to the link posted and specifically during The BoB.

The link was to small automatic electric MG turrets that never made it past testing. Fitted to a shackleton (so that gives you some idea of the date!) Computer cotrolled.. I think. I know they had them later. I wasn't aware of anything like that being around in 1940.

And when I said 'not exactly fast' I was comparing it to pointing and clicking with a mouse, not compared to other turrets. It gets confusing when you mix reality and sim

Something of interest I found out when looking at Aerial guns/gunners. USAF Aerial Gunners (in most cases) weren't credited for kills individually, the kill went to the Group. So even if you shot down 5 you'd never get Ace status. There's a list somewhere of the top Aerial Gunners in WWII. 17 kills is the highest I've seen. Most seemed to get 4 or 5.
Can't have been easy.

Yes, I looked at the site. What it proposed already existed on B-29's.

I think the correct term is "Compensating" targeting sights, and I am pretty sure (not positive) the Americans had them first (and sold to UK), not sure when it started (I would guess 1940, but not in service till 1942??).
Not sure if Germans developed something like that, but they did have remote controlled guns.

It was an analogue computer, and was surprisingly complex and accurate, as long as the gunner knew exactly the range, the target was hit.


Not easy at all, but not by todays standards (sims give us hours of practice). Still, those TG's caused damage to attacking fighters no matter what side.