Aircraft turrets (any)

Looks like it could be….

Pic below taken at crash site of a Blenheim Mk1f. Could this be part of the seat from mid-upper?

As regards the turrets in pits ,it`s totally true as I ought a Lacaster FN 82 rear turret from this excavation.There were FN 50`s,FN82`s ,FN5`s and FN 120`s the latter only being fitted to Lancs and all the rest used on Lancs.
Can anyone suggest where the turrets possibly came from ??? …and don`t say a Lancaster Base !!.

Isn`t this a Lancaster nose cupola ?

Hi Cees,

There isn’t too much progress to report here……

The Berry Boys have acquired a Boly centre turret. In terms of parts it’s about 3/4 complete. Boly fuselages seem to be easy to locate, but the turret parts seem to be a different story! Probably another case of post-war scavenging by farmers in need of hydraulic components.

My FN121 project has been idle for a while. I’m still busy collecting and preparing drawings of parts required for another 121 project.

I wish I could give an update on my ball turret project but I’m afraid not much has changed over the past 6 months or so. Pickings are pretty slim when it comes to parts. The few people that do have them usually don’t want to sell them for any price. :confused: I guess I could understand this if they were restoring a turret themselves but most aren’t.:rolleyes: Maybe they’re holding onto these as an investment so they can cash in when they retire….who knows???:p

John

Hmm yes, know how you feel. When you need something and someone else has it but doesn’t need it but doesn’t want to let it go either.
You have my sympathy:o
Cees

Any project updates?

Mike,

How are your projects going on at the moment? There must be a source of spare parts in your neck of the woods with the locally produced Bolingbroke?

Cheers

Cees

Any project updates?

I wish I could give an update on my ball turret project but I’m afraid not much has changed over the past 6 months or so. Pickings are pretty slim when it comes to parts. The few people that do have them usually don’t want to sell them for any price. :confused: I guess I could understand this if they were restoring a turret themselves but most aren’t.:rolleyes: Maybe they’re holding onto these as an investment so they can cash in when they retire….who knows???:p

John

Any project updates?

Thanks for the link Shabby.

I know the guy that had these ball turret shell sections made. He had a total of two complete turrets cast by this foundry. The problem is that the forms were made from original ball turret shell sections and were cast in pure aluminum. The problem with this of course is the shrinkage factor when casting aluminum. All of the shell parts were slightly smaller than the originals which caused a problem when trying to attach original internal parts to these new shell section pieces.

There are a couple of people here in the states that are looking into the possibliity of recasting ball turrets using other newer methods which would supposedly eliminate the shrinkage factor. I would guess that there are about 3-4 people out there that would likely pay for recastings so there is a definate market for a project like this.

If anybody out there comes across any ball turret parts or shell sections please let me know!!!!

John

For the last several years I’ve been trying to restore a Sperry lower ball turret in my basement. I have most of the internal parts except for some minor bits and a missing azimuth gearbox. The frustrating part is trying to find those shell pieces which were melted down after the war for their aluminum. I have some scrap shell pieces which are bent and broken, an ammo can door, as well as the armoured seat assembly but that’s about it for shell pieces.

John

John, came across this whilst ‘Googling’…

http://www.mysticriverfoundry.com/ Scroll to the bottom of the page…..

Shabby
www.55th.org
www.station131.co.uk

Does anyone have for sale a spare turret seat for a (Boly/Blenheim) Bristol centre turret?

Please send me a PM.

Hi Peter

Thanks for the reply (and welcome). I’ve done a little bit of diggiging and yes it apprears the Martin turrets had some interruption mechansim. Not sure if electrical or mechanical.

Steve

Hope the lead generates something….

sorry I’ll get me coat :p

TT

Thanks for the heads-up Mark. I’ve been in contact with Jason Van Der Graaf who I believe is part of that project. They have most of the shell sections for their project and are in need of internal parts. I’ve agreed to share some of my spare internal parts for any extra shell sections but it looks as though they don’t have much left over. Hopefully we can work out a deal in the near future though.

Thanks again!

John

Jason van der graaf, nice Dutch name, Hmm wonder where his parents came from.:cool:

Cees

John,

I am not sure this is still sitting unwanted on the crash site but you may wish to contact the B24 Restoration at Werribee and see if they recovered this and if they have any spare shell sections, I know they have restored a total of 3 with one operational, with 1 to be in the a/c and 1 to be a display turret and the third being returned to another collection who originally had two of these, as part of a trade/restore/return arrangement.

regards

Mark Pilkington

.

Thanks for the heads-up Mark. I’ve been in contact with Jason Van Der Graaf who I believe is part of that project. They have most of the shell sections for their project and are in need of internal parts. I’ve agreed to share some of my spare internal parts for any extra shell sections but it looks as though they don’t have much left over. Hopefully we can work out a deal in the near future though.

Thanks again!

John

Welcome Steve64!

First let me say welcome to the forum Steve!
The martin turrett I believe had an electric interupter gear? to stop the gunner from shooting the rudders or wings off. I dont know the exact details only having worked on the fn121 fn120 and fn5 turrets, but had heard mention of this.

Thankyou Cees thats cleared that up for me. Just out of interest how did the Martin turret operate without the taboo rack ? ie was there some other way to ensure the MUG didn’t hit his own tail fins ?

Steve

Hello all,

First post so would just like to say hello to everyone and congratulations on a superb forum.

Posted here first as I’ve a turret question thats been bothering me. I realise that the vast majority of Lancaster turrets were FNs with various modifications happening to the rear turrets for the twin 0.5s (was the Rose turret a FN ?). However I thought that all MUG turrets in Lancs had a collar type mechanism that elevated the guns so making it impossible for the gunner to hit the rear tail. Looking at Just Jane the Lanc appears to have the regular FN turret but no collar type mechanism. Was the MkVii originally made without a dorsal turret and JJ has had one retrofitted without the collar ?

Steve

Hi Steve,

The Mk VII Lancaster was fitted with a Martin turret which was also located closer to the centre section because of CoG restrictions. Just Jane was fitted with a Martin turret but now has a FN150 cupola fitted without the taboo track (IIRC that’s what it was called).
The Rose turret was not a Fraser Nash design.
Cheers

Cees

Hello

Hello all,

First post so would just like to say hello to everyone and congratulations on a superb forum.

Posted here first as I’ve a turret question thats been bothering me. I realise that the vast majority of Lancaster turrets were FNs with various modifications happening to the rear turrets for the twin 0.5s (was the Rose turret a FN ?). However I thought that all MUG turrets in Lancs had a collar type mechanism that elevated the guns so making it impossible for the gunner to hit the rear tail. Looking at Just Jane the Lanc appears to have the regular FN turret but no collar type mechanism. Was the MkVii originally made without a dorsal turret and JJ has had one retrofitted without the collar ?

Steve