Can the dome gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress shoot the plane's tail off?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP











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I was at the California Capital Airshow on Mather AFB over the weekend, and came across a beautifully maintained B-17 Flying Fortress. The crew were kind enough to allow people to go inside and take a look - what a magnificent machine!





While inside, I noticed the dome gunner seems to be in a position to accidentally shoot the tail off the plane!





Are there any confirmed instances of this happening? Was there some way to prevent it - either be it training or some mechanism that stopped the guns while in this position? I can imagine, in the heat of battle, sweeping an enemy fighter and nicking your own tail in the process!






wwii b-17







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  • 2




    This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
    – Ron Beyer
    10 hours ago











  • @RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
    – SnakeDoc
    10 hours ago






  • 3




    If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
    – Dave
    8 hours ago










  • IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
    – Dan Neely
    7 hours ago














up vote
12
down vote

favorite












I was at the California Capital Airshow on Mather AFB over the weekend, and came across a beautifully maintained B-17 Flying Fortress. The crew were kind enough to allow people to go inside and take a look - what a magnificent machine!





While inside, I noticed the dome gunner seems to be in a position to accidentally shoot the tail off the plane!





Are there any confirmed instances of this happening? Was there some way to prevent it - either be it training or some mechanism that stopped the guns while in this position? I can imagine, in the heat of battle, sweeping an enemy fighter and nicking your own tail in the process!






wwii b-17







share|improve this question



















  • 2




    This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
    – Ron Beyer
    10 hours ago











  • @RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
    – SnakeDoc
    10 hours ago






  • 3




    If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
    – Dave
    8 hours ago










  • IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
    – Dan Neely
    7 hours ago












up vote
12
down vote

favorite









up vote
12
down vote

favorite











I was at the California Capital Airshow on Mather AFB over the weekend, and came across a beautifully maintained B-17 Flying Fortress. The crew were kind enough to allow people to go inside and take a look - what a magnificent machine!





While inside, I noticed the dome gunner seems to be in a position to accidentally shoot the tail off the plane!





Are there any confirmed instances of this happening? Was there some way to prevent it - either be it training or some mechanism that stopped the guns while in this position? I can imagine, in the heat of battle, sweeping an enemy fighter and nicking your own tail in the process!






wwii b-17







share|improve this question















I was at the California Capital Airshow on Mather AFB over the weekend, and came across a beautifully maintained B-17 Flying Fortress. The crew were kind enough to allow people to go inside and take a look - what a magnificent machine!





While inside, I noticed the dome gunner seems to be in a position to accidentally shoot the tail off the plane!





Are there any confirmed instances of this happening? Was there some way to prevent it - either be it training or some mechanism that stopped the guns while in this position? I can imagine, in the heat of battle, sweeping an enemy fighter and nicking your own tail in the process!






wwii b-17




wwii b-17






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 12 mins ago









E.P.

1,1361813




1,1361813










asked 10 hours ago









SnakeDoc

1,0581032




1,0581032







  • 2




    This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
    – Ron Beyer
    10 hours ago











  • @RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
    – SnakeDoc
    10 hours ago






  • 3




    If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
    – Dave
    8 hours ago










  • IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
    – Dan Neely
    7 hours ago












  • 2




    This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
    – Ron Beyer
    10 hours ago











  • @RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
    – SnakeDoc
    10 hours ago






  • 3




    If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
    – Dave
    8 hours ago










  • IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
    – Dan Neely
    7 hours ago







2




2




This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
– Ron Beyer
10 hours ago





This page contains an account of a waist gunner shooting the tail, but I'm unable to do more research into it at the moment.
– Ron Beyer
10 hours ago













@RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
– SnakeDoc
10 hours ago




@RonBeyer Oh wow, good find! 'The entry in the pilot’s diary, dated Feb 18th, 1943, says, “New waist gunner shot hell out of tail today. Ship out for a week.”'
– SnakeDoc
10 hours ago




3




3




If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
– Dave
8 hours ago




If your not careful thats what happens at 11 0'clock
– Dave
8 hours ago












IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
– Dan Neely
7 hours ago




IIRC shooting your own aircraft was a serious risk with pintle mounted machine guns in early WW1 aircraft.
– Dan Neely
7 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
19
down vote



accepted










There's a profile cam in the turret track ring that operates a mechanism that interrupts the guns when the barrels are pointed at parts of the aircraft. Waist gunners were the only ones who had to worry about hitting their own plane.



The bigger problem was gunners hitting adjacent aircraft. The "box" formation design attempted to provide as much of an open field as possible to each gunner.






share|improve this answer




















  • Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
    – ivanivan
    5 hours ago










  • Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
    – Wayne Conrad
    4 hours ago










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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
19
down vote



accepted










There's a profile cam in the turret track ring that operates a mechanism that interrupts the guns when the barrels are pointed at parts of the aircraft. Waist gunners were the only ones who had to worry about hitting their own plane.



The bigger problem was gunners hitting adjacent aircraft. The "box" formation design attempted to provide as much of an open field as possible to each gunner.






share|improve this answer




















  • Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
    – ivanivan
    5 hours ago










  • Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
    – Wayne Conrad
    4 hours ago














up vote
19
down vote



accepted










There's a profile cam in the turret track ring that operates a mechanism that interrupts the guns when the barrels are pointed at parts of the aircraft. Waist gunners were the only ones who had to worry about hitting their own plane.



The bigger problem was gunners hitting adjacent aircraft. The "box" formation design attempted to provide as much of an open field as possible to each gunner.






share|improve this answer




















  • Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
    – ivanivan
    5 hours ago










  • Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
    – Wayne Conrad
    4 hours ago












up vote
19
down vote



accepted







up vote
19
down vote



accepted






There's a profile cam in the turret track ring that operates a mechanism that interrupts the guns when the barrels are pointed at parts of the aircraft. Waist gunners were the only ones who had to worry about hitting their own plane.



The bigger problem was gunners hitting adjacent aircraft. The "box" formation design attempted to provide as much of an open field as possible to each gunner.






share|improve this answer












There's a profile cam in the turret track ring that operates a mechanism that interrupts the guns when the barrels are pointed at parts of the aircraft. Waist gunners were the only ones who had to worry about hitting their own plane.



The bigger problem was gunners hitting adjacent aircraft. The "box" formation design attempted to provide as much of an open field as possible to each gunner.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 10 hours ago









John K

8,114827




8,114827











  • Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
    – ivanivan
    5 hours ago










  • Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
    – Wayne Conrad
    4 hours ago
















  • Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
    – ivanivan
    5 hours ago










  • Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
    – Wayne Conrad
    4 hours ago















Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
– ivanivan
5 hours ago




Not just gunners hitting friendly air craft - the bombs themselves have hit planes flying below them as well. Recall watching old WW2 documentaries w/ various gun cam footage and seeing it happen...
– ivanivan
5 hours ago












Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
– Wayne Conrad
4 hours ago




Didn't the top turret gunner also have the potential (if there were no interrupter mechanism) to shoot part of the plane, as shown in the question?
– Wayne Conrad
4 hours ago

















 

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