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Difference between revisions of "Common Questions and Answers"
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Common Questions and Answers (view source)
Revision as of 01:54, 14 March 2022
, 01:54, 14 March 2022→What happened to spent bullet casings and belt links?: Fix Incomplete Footnote & Add Reference
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Before answering this question, it is important to distinguish between fixed and flexible mounted guns. Fixed guns cannot be moved and are aimed by turning the entire airplane. They are usually mounted in the wings or nose. Flexible guns can be moved and are aimed by moving the gun itself. An example of this is the tail gun position on a B-25. | Before answering this question, it is important to distinguish between fixed and flexible mounted guns. Fixed guns cannot be moved and are aimed by turning the entire airplane. They are usually mounted in the wings or nose. Flexible guns can be moved and are aimed by moving the gun itself. An example of this is the tail gun position on a B-25. | ||
During World War II, fixed gun positions on aircraft almost always ejected the bullet casings and links out of the bottom of the aircraft.{{efn|There is a risk from ejected bullet casings causing foreign object damage to the aircraft or others in flight nearby. In rare cases they were collected, such as with the wing gun on the T-6, but this was the exception rather than the rule.<ref>{{cite book |title=Erection and Maintenance Instructions for Airplanes Army Model AT-6 Series; Navy Models SNJ-3, SNJ-4, SNJ-5 and SNJ-6; British Models Harvard IIA and III |date=1945 |url=http://app.aircorpslibrary.com/document/viewer/4mt6jw1 |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>{{efn|This was only practicable on the T-6 because the gun involved was a .30 caliber. The bullet casings from a .50 caliber would have been far too large.}} | During World War II, fixed gun positions on aircraft almost always ejected the bullet casings and links out of the bottom of the aircraft.{{efn|There is a risk from ejected bullet casings causing foreign object damage to the aircraft or others in flight nearby.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Straarup |first1=Anders Baadsgaard |title=B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner |url=http://www.airmen.dk/b17ball.htm |website=AirmenDK |access-date=14 March 2022 |date=28 June 2021}}</ref> In one case, a bullet casing from a gun being test fired from a B-17 over the English channel flew back and lodged in the engine of an airplane farther back in the formation, causing it to have to abort due to engine failure.}} In rare cases they were collected, such as with the wing gun on the T-6, but this was the exception rather than the rule.<ref>{{cite book |title=Erection and Maintenance Instructions for Airplanes Army Model AT-6 Series; Navy Models SNJ-3, SNJ-4, SNJ-5 and SNJ-6; British Models Harvard IIA and III |date=1945 |url=http://app.aircorpslibrary.com/document/viewer/4mt6jw1 |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>{{efn|This was only practicable on the T-6 because the gun involved was a .30 caliber. The bullet casings from a .50 caliber would have been far too large.}} | ||
Similarly, in many flexible gun positions, the spent bullet casings simply fell to the floor. | Similarly, in many flexible gun positions, the spent bullet casings simply fell to the floor. | ||