I’m hoping 2008 is much kinder to me when it comes to leads on those hard to find ball turret parts. Pickings were pretty slim in 2007 so I’m hoping a few fellow warbird lovers across the pond will surprise me with some finds this year. I have the $$$…I just can’t find the parts!!:(

And if “Rocketeer” is still out there…I’m still interested in that half shell, ball turret section in case you ever want to part with it!:D

John

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

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

That would be Albert Stix located in St. Louis, MO. He is still busy trying to identify and inventory all of the parts and has already helped out some restorers, including myself. Unfortunately most of the parts is internal small stuff. He doesn’t have any shell sections that I know of.

John

Are you now collecting pop cans?

Oh I’m sure the aluminum from a few of those ball turrets, B-17’s, and B-24’s eventually ended up recycled as soda & beer cans over the years.:(

Besides, I can’t afford to collect anything else…this ball turret project is way too expensive (when I’m able to find the parts).;)

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

Graham,

I missed out on all the hoopla, but after reading all the comments I’m to assume a few people were upset about your prices and/or selling on ebay?

Whatever the isssue…my hat goes off to you and others like you that have enough courage to run a business like “spitfire Spares”. You did an excellent job mentioning some of the many problems and costs involved with selling such rare artifacts and as you mentioned…it’s definately a niche market. People should be happy these parts are even available (yeah I know they’re expensive) and not sitting on some collector’s mantle piece collecting dust instead of being used in an actual restored aircraft.

I’ve run into these types of issues while trying to obtain parts for my ball turret restoration project. There are very few dealers out there…period. And the few that are out there know how rare this stuff is and will naturally charge you an arm and a leg for it. Yeah…I don’t like it but it comes down to “supply & demand”.

Best of luck to you!

John