Pilots Need Precision!

[MIflyer]

A B-25 unit in the Med got a new version of the bomber in 1943, the B-25G. It featured the incredible firepower of a 75MM cannon. The cannon was loaded manually by the Navigator, the breech was located near his position.

Certain that the new gun would prove to be highly effective against ground targets, a crew took one of the new B-25G's across the Med to an enemy target and came in low, blazing away.

The pilot soon found that the firing rate of the cannon was so slow that he was lucky to get two rounds off on each pass. That made it impossible to adjust aim. He exhorted the navigator to increase his firing rate but it did no good. They could hit the ground with the 75MM but that was about all.

The pilot was disgusted with the results and told the navigator to give him a course back to home base. Behind him the Navigator, stripped to the waist, sweltering in the low altitude Med heat, and exhausted from chucking 75MM shells as fast as he could, replied, "West, sir, Fly West."

The pilot replied that was NOT a proper course and he wanted a real one, the way a navigator was supposed to perform his duties. The navigator went back to his desk, consulted his maps, measured the course back to base, and replied,

"Don't fly West, sir, Fly Two Seven Zero Degrees."

 

[Tieleader]

Should have said "180 degrees opposite of east"...
Knew someone who served on B- 25G/H's in the CBI. He said the cordite smell from the 75mm was enough to make you want to vomit after only a couple of shots. They much preferred to removing the cannon and mounting a couple of .50 cals in its place.

 

[MIflyer]

Yes, I heard about replacing the cannon with a couple of .50 cal. I'm surprised no one apparently tried the 37MM from a P-39; at 150RPM it was no M-61 but it was way better than the 75MM in terms of cyclic rate. In the CBI they even took out the 75MM and installed a couple of 3.5 inch tube-launched rockets on at least one B-25. I don't know if they were reloadable from inside the airplane; probably not. Such operations are best observed from the O Club bar.

 

[Tieleader]

Yes, I heard about replacing the cannon with a couple of .50 cal. I'm surprised no one apparently tried the 37MM from a P-39; at 150RPM it was no M-61 but it was way better than the 75MM in terms of cyclic rate. In the CBI they even took out the 75MM and installed a couple of 3.5 inch tube-launched rockets on at least one B-25. I don't know if they were reloadable from inside the airplane; probably not. Such operations are best observed from the O Club bar.

I guess one of the problems with the bigger gun was the much different trajectory arc than the tracing .50 cals.

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[billrunnels]

I guess one of the problems with the bigger gun was the much different trajectory arc than the tracing .50 cals.

They removed the tracers on the B-17. Apparently their trajectory was not accurate and gunners were sighting with tracers rather than the gun sights.

 

[Tieleader]

They removed the tracers on the B-17. Apparently their trajectory was not accurate and gunners were sighting with tracers rather than the gun sights.

Sorry, wrong choice of word, I meant the sighting rounds (ie where they wanted the round to go). Like a ranging shot in artillery or naval guns.
Still good to know about the B-17 rounds! I can only imagine the confusion if all those .50s in a bomber formation had tracers...

 

[billrunnels]

Sorry, wrong choice of word, I meant the sighting rounds (ie where they wanted the round to go). Like a ranging shot in artillery or naval guns.
Still good to know about the B-17 rounds! I can only imagine the confusion if all those .50s in a bomber formation had tracers...

Sorry for the interruption.