Loading of guns on US fighter aircraft

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Venomstick121

Airman 1st Class
289
232
Dec 21, 2023
How were wing and nose mounted guns and cannons loaded?

A bit off topic but just occurred to me, how were munitions ejected such as a bomb off a pylon? Was it a clip or something else?
 
Wing and fuselage gun loading is highly dependent upon the particular installation. Typically, filled cans were installed and then leader linked belts were attached and fed thru the feed housings to the guns. Some fixed installations, the loose rounds were fed into the magazines by hand or machine. Expended brass was typically shed overboard via discharge chutes. More modern installations do not discard the brass, but have a capture mechanism and it's downloaded during a rearm of the weapons.

Until the advent of the MAU-12 type bomb release, weapons were simply allowed to free fall from the suspension system. Due to airframe configurations, some required the weapon to be hung from a trapeze. When released, that would force the weapon away from the fuselage in an arc, to clear the prop. These would be seen on aircraft used mainly for dive bombing, with center hung ordinance.
The MAU-12 style release units use either explosives or high pressure gas storage to drive a separation piston or pistons against the weapon to force the weapon away from the release unit and into cleaner air, at a nose down angle to enhance separation. These release units came about as release airspeeds routinely passed through about 400 kts.
 
Wing and fuselage gun loading is highly dependent upon the particular installation. Typically, filled cans were installed and then leader linked belts were attached and fed thru the feed housings to the guns. Some fixed installations, the loose rounds were fed into the magazines by hand or machine. Expended brass was typically shed overboard via discharge chutes. More modern installations do not discard the brass, but have a capture mechanism and it's downloaded during a rearm of the weapons.

Until the advent of the MAU-12 type bomb release, weapons were simply allowed to free fall from the suspension system. Due to airframe configurations, some required the weapon to be hung from a trapeze. When released, that would force the weapon away from the fuselage in an arc, to clear the prop. These would be seen on aircraft used mainly for dive bombing, with center hung ordinance.
The MAU-12 style release units use either explosives or high pressure gas storage to drive a separation piston or pistons against the weapon to force the weapon away from the release unit and into cleaner air, at a nose down angle to enhance separation. These release units came about as release airspeeds routinely passed through about 400 kts.
Thank you!! Much appreciated!
 
P-51 .50 cal ammo loading:

P-51 wing gun belt layout.jpg


F4U Corsair .50 cal ammo boxes:

Corsair ammo box-1.jpg


P-47 .50 cal ammo belt loading:

gunbay.jpg


P-47 wing gun ammo belt loading.jpg
 
As mentioned above, some aircraft, dive-bombers in particular, had a "trapeze" device for the centerline bomb, which would swing the bomb down and away from the propeller arc when released.

The most notable dive-bombers that used this device, would be the Ju87, SBD and D3A.
 
This will give you a little better perspective on the size of the M2 in .50 cal. It was also produced as a .30 cal and was smaller.

 

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