Original Items: Only One Lot of 3 Available. Once airplanes became viable weapons, they became tempting targets. Bombers, often single-engine biplanes with an observation capability during World War I, were targeted, prompting defensive armament intended purely for destroying attacking aircraft.
By the 1930s, bomber defensive armament had evolved to include rotating turrets. Of the armstrong variety — it took strong arms to manually move them — the devices nonetheless pointed the way toward more capable gun turrets. The British were keen on turret improvements leading up to World War II. Their bombers initially led early B-17s and B-24s when it came to power turrets, and some in the UK guarded that technology from American observers in 1940, fearing the still-neutral U.S. might let it slip into the wrong hands. One of those American observers, then-Lt. Col. Grandison Gardner, was an armament expert. He believed that American bombers should incorporate British power turrets, or if they were denied to the Americans, then an indigenous turret industry needed to blossom in the U.S.
The archetypal U.S. World War II bomber turret swung a pair of .50-caliber machine guns. Companies including Sperry, Bendix, Emerson, General Electric, Martin, and Consolidated designed power turrets for American bombers. The power tail turret first seen on the B-24C was a 1941 in-house design by Consolidated’s B-24 armament group. In the hectic weeks following the Pearl Harbor attack, the turret prototype stood watch atop the Consolidated plant in San Diego against potential Japanese attacks until more traditional anti-aircraft batteries were set up.
This is a wonderful setup of common items seen in a power turret on a bomber. The seat/pedestal type control mount is in good condition with functioning buttons (not tested electronically), however, most of the protective coating is almost missing entirely, having dry rotted a long time ago. The seat is a “tractor” style seat and still has some of the original paint left. The seat pan measures 18" x 12 1/2", and the control stick is 18" long.
The ammo box is a rare WWII Browning .50 Caliber machine gun extra ammunition box for aircraft, measuring about 16" x 11" x 6". Research indicates this was an extra ammo box that was used in the nose and tail sections of the B-17, B-24 and B-25 Bombers. Also known as a Tail Turret Ammunition Box on a B-24 Liberator, these were stacked just aft of the waist gun position and fed the tail turret via a long rigid feed chute. The feed chute assembly has the fastening clamps intact on one end. There are some dings and dents to the flexible feed chute assembly, and remnants of original period gray paint. A feed chute is a device used to protect or guide a belt, or act as the exterior of a linkless feed system. In modern use, the term most commonly refers to articulated devices used to route ammunition from its source to a mounted weapon's receiver: however, non-articulated feed chutes designed to give alignment guidance to a belt as it enters the action of a firearm were commonly fitted to tank and aircraft machine guns in the two World Wars. A very short non-articulated feed chute is sometimes instead called a feed throat.
This is a wonderful opportunity to add seldom seen pieces of WWII B-24 Bomber parts! Comes ready to display and research!
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s, in the Land Bomber design category.
At its inception, the B-24 was a modern design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing. The wing gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries, the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24 and procured it in huge numbers for a wide variety of roles.At approximately 18,500 units – including 8,685 manufactured by Ford Motor Company – it holds records as the world's most produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history.
The B-24 was used extensively in World War II. It served in every branch of the American armed forces as well as several Allied air forces and navies. It saw use in every theater of operations. Along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, including the bombing of Japan. Long-range anti-submarine Liberators played an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The C-87 transport derivative served as a longer range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain.
By the end of World War II, the technological breakthroughs of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and other modern types had surpassed the bombers that served from the start of the war. The B-24 was rapidly phased out of U.S. service, although the PB4Y-2 Privateer maritime patrol derivative carried on in service with the U.S. Navy in the Korean War.
