Aircraft cannons....

[davebender]

It's my understanding that gyro stabilized gunsites were not widely available prior to 1944.

 

[Soren]

I believe both sides used these sights in about the same magnitude in the ETO, and it was in a rather limited fashion. 200 or so German fighters entering combat with the EZ-42 sight.

 

[Erich]

for the LW that is correct, 5.Sturm/JG 300 first used them in a small quantity for anti bomber use in their Fw 190A-8 and A-8/R2's using the EZ 40/42 on 5 sorties during the time frame of September 13-28th 1944.

the initial use by II.Sturm/JG 300 seems to be in August of 44 via documentation translated

 

[Civettone]

I don't understand why the Sturmgruppen would need these ... they wore the badges of the 'white of the eyes' for a reason, no??


Kris

 

[Soren]

The sight was of great use in the Me-262 because of this aircraft's high speed, the gyro sight helped increase the accuracy of the short bursts fired and also made the Me-262 a lot more capable of deflection shooting when engaging enemy fighters.

 

[Milosh]

Often the gyro stabilization of the EZ42 was disabled due to problems with maintainance.

The gryo sight was in widespread use by the Allies in the ETO.

 

[davebender]

When? Certainly not at the beginning of the war.

 

[Erich]

it does seem odd the Sturmgruppen and JG 300 instead of JG 3 have them first, it was JG 3 Sturm unit that wore the whites of their eyes not JG 4 or 300

the gyro sight was needed for the newer pilots so they could home in their mg 131's and 2cm weapons onto the tail gunners position otherwise in many cases they could not hit the broad side of a barn.

 

[Milosh]

When? Certainly not at the beginning of the war.

Obviously not.

The British Mk I was first used in the summer of 1941. The Mk II late in 1943 as were the American K-14 and Mk 18.

 

[davebender]

B-17G.
B-17 Flying Fortress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
74 ft Length.
103 ft Wingspan.
19 ft Height.

I grew up in a farming community. The B-17 is larger then my grandparent's barn.

 

[Soren]

Often the gyro stabilization of the EZ42 was disabled due to problems with maintainance.

Nope, these were issues which plagued the EZ40/41, not the EZ42.