A gunship in WW2

[pampa14]

The YB-40 was a derivation of the Boeing B-17, in which additional guns were added in hopes that these heavily-armed B-17s would be able to "escort" the other bombers, protecting them from enemy fighter attacks when beyond the range of friendly fighter escort. Changes included a remotely-controlled chin turret (which later became standard on the B-17G model), twin .50 caliber guns in the waist positions (instead of the single guns), an extra twin gun power turret behind what used to be the radio operator's gun position, and sometimes extra cheek guns in the nose. The bombs and bombardier were left behind, and extra ammo for the guns was carried. Even with the reduction in weight without the bombs, the added weight of guns and ammo made the aircraft heavier and slower. The program was made obsolete not only by its own failures, but by the appearance of long-range fighter escorts that could fill the role much more ably. Some photos of YB-40 can be found in the link below:

Aviação em Floripa: Boeing YB-40: Um gunship na Segunda Guerra Mundial


Hope you enjoy and thanks for visiting!

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[planb]

cool,nice website ya found

 

[boeing299]

The pic with a 6 gun chin turret is interesting. I've never seen that arrangement before. The model with a B-24 style nose turret sure is ugly though. The equivalent B-24 gunship was the XB-41. It suffered the same fate as the YB-40.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool!

I don't think the 6 gun turret was part of the YB-40 program, IIRC is was a field mod.

 

[pbehn]

They look so fearsome in the photos its hard to believe they were a failure, actually made the bombers more vulnerable on the return leg.

 

[muscogeemike]

This was also done to some B-24's as well and, as I've read, they both didn't work well. Too heavy to keep up with the formations.