May Be Of Interest to 1/48 Airfix Defiant builders........

[andym]

[Kahunaminor]

Thanks Andy,

A mate of mine put me onto this also. It also answered the question of another step in the port side of the fuselage, its the little circle about in the middle of the canopies that can be extended and retracted.

Regards,

[The original Kit Builder]

Fascinating. It also shows just how badly designed the turret was from the point of view of weapons safety and Murphy's Law.

Far too many steps with the chance of something going wrong and not where you'd want to be for a scramble.

[Work In Progress]

Yes, it is a bit of a faff, isn't it? In more modern times you'd have a single connector for oxy and intercom, and I imagine the electrics would be much more foolproof. The opportunity for blowing the (admirably chunky) fuse with a single mis-step seems especially unwelcome.

Cocking the guns is an awkward burden which on anything with wing-mounted weapons the armourer would take care of rather than a member of aircrew, but someone's got to do it.

Having the guns faired forward means the weight is where you want it for take-off and landing but from a piloting perspective I would be nervous about my head being so close to the line of fire in the event of an unanticipated discharge. Especially as in my Yak days I was accustomed to having my head out the side in certain phases of landing approach and taxiing, which would put it right in line for a bullet.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Work In Progress

[AndyL]

The pilot didn't have anything to worry about regarding the discharge of the .303's. When they were in the stowed position, an electrical cut out prevented firing. The guns could only be fired foward with a minimum elevation of 22 degrees above the horizontal.

[Jeepboy]

A faff indeed and not that ergonomic BUT the single hand control was a real suprise to me and appeared very much of our time. It must have been very novel in its day and now second nature for our young generation.

[Work In Progress]

The pilot didn't have anything to worry about regarding the discharge of the .303's. When they were in the stowed position, an electrical cut out prevented firing. The guns could only be fired foward with a minimum elevation of 22 degrees above the horizontal.

Which is fine, IF the electrical cut-out is working properly.

[brewerjerry]

Which is fine, IF the electrical cut-out is working properly.

Hi

I have not seen a drawing of the defiant cut out, but on other aircraft it was a conductive ring with a non conductive segment,

regularly maintained it would be ok, the non conductive parts of the ring protecting the aircraft.

A bit like a car wiper motor self park system.

if that makes sense

cheers

jerry