What kind of machine gun was mounted in the back? I'm assuming a Lewis?
Thomas Rupp, e-mail, 24.02.2015 22:55
I am looking for details of the rear gunner's station in this aircraft. I have not been able to find any photos of this area as there are for the pilot's cockpit online. Can anyone shed any light? Was it have been similar to the Vultee V11? Or the SBD Dauntless?
g hall, e-mail, 23.07.2013 04:32
The exhaust driven supercharger was adjusted on the ground for 30" mercury and not contoled in the cockpit. the last one i saw flying was delivered to Keesler Field late 1940, from Wright-Pat
Klaatu83, e-mail, 23.09.2012 16:18
The single-engine,two-seat fighter concept became popular between the wars due to the success of the Bristol F2B during World War I. Many aviation pundits of the time considered it a good idea. However, by 1939 the concept had lost much of it's appeal because, despite the supposed advantage of the rear gunner, a good two-seater simply couldn't equal the performance of a good single-seater. It was just as well that the concept was discontinued because, generally speaking, single-engine two-seaters did not fare particularly well in air-to-air combat during World War II.
The text specifically mentions the difficulty and discomfort involved with operating the rear gun position in this fighter. The British attempted to address that fault by placing the rear gunner in a fully enclosed, power-operated gun turret. Unfortunately, at the same time they chose to entirely eliminate the pilot's forward-firing armament, and make the turret the fighters' sole armament. The result, embodied in the Boulton-Paul Defiant and Blackburn Skua two-seat fighters, was a failure.
Steven Kouzoujian, e-mail, 03.08.2008 14:21
Toward the end of the first paragraph, you have referred to the Curtiss V-1710-57 Conqueror engine. I believe this to be a typographical error, as the V-1710 is an Allison engine. You may have meant the Curtiss V-1570-57.