Frazer Nash Turret FN7

[Elias]

Hello to everyone, 

 

Does anybody know if the back of the FN 7 Botha turret (used in Sunderland, Stirling,Manchester etc) had an escape hatch or a door?

Thanks in advance 

[Graham Boak]

The usual entry for dorsal turrets was from the underneath, inside the fuselage.  Escape hatches were fitted to those on Defiants (and presumably Rocs) but not as far as I know on others, and the FN 7 was a particularly narrow one so it seems unlikely.

[Work In Progress]

The Stirling pilot notes suggest (though it's not entirely explicit) that the mid-upper gunner emergency exit is the lower fuselage hatch aft of the bomb bay, if parachuting, or the upper fuselage hatch roughly above the trailing edge position if it's on its belly on the ground, or in the water. His parachute is in any case stowed on the port fuselage wall so if abandoning in the air he has to come down out of the turret into the fuselage first in any case. 

[Elias]

Thank you for your replies. 

From the existing photos there a small window at the back.

I have only seen one  photo that it shows the turret missing the window while the aircraft was on the ground. Can't figure out if the gunner  could open it on the side or totally removed it.

[rossm]

From British Aircraft Armament Vol1: RAF Gun Turrets from 1914 to the Present Day, "At the back of the turret were two doors which on the original design provided the gunner with a reasonable means of abandoning the aircraft. These doors wre retained on the production version but now proved almost impossible for a gunner in bulky flying clothing to use. Following reports that gunners who had used the doors to escape from Stirling aircaft had hit the tailplane and been killed the doors were sealed and the gunners instructed to use the fuselage hatches."

 

NOTE the original design was larger than the production version so I imagine the doors were reduced in size.

[Elias]

5 hours ago, rossm said:

From British Aircraft Armament Vol1: RAF Gun Turrets from 1914 to the Present Day, "At the back of the turret were two doors which on the original design provided the gunner with a reasonable means of abandoning the aircraft. These doors wre retained on the production version but now proved almost impossible for a gunner in bulky flying clothing to use. Following reports that gunners who had used the doors to escape from Stirling aircaft had hit the tailplane and been killed the doors were sealed and the gunners instructed to use the fuselage hatches."

 

NOTE the original design was larger than the production version so I imagine the doors were reduced in size.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[LDSModeller]

For the Sunderland (Mk II late production/ Mk III (until deleted) and Mk V (until deleted)),

the upper gunner entered and exited from the bottom of the turret, as it was open.

The gunner sat on a swing seat and his feet rested on the foot rest as below.

 

 

If he needed to exit (i.e. parachute) the aircraft quickly, he would get down and head for nearest exit

(being the rear hatch).

If the Sunderland was to ditch, then all crew would assemble on the flight deck to exit through the upper

hatch located over flight Engineers station (from a WWII Sunderland pilot)

 

Regards

 

Alan

[Elias]

22 hours ago, rossm said:

From British Aircraft Armament Vol1: RAF Gun Turrets from 1914 to the Present Day, "At the back of the turret were two doors which on the original design provided the gunner with a reasonable means of abandoning the aircraft. These doors wre retained on the production version but now proved almost impossible for a gunner in bulky flying clothing to use. Following reports that gunners who had used the doors to escape from Stirling aircaft had hit the tailplane and been killed the doors were sealed and the gunners instructed to use the fuselage hatches."

 

NOTE the original design was larger than the production version so I imagine the doors were reduced in size.

Thanks for your reply!

Any ideas about the interior colour?

I'm building a Manchester and I'm towards aluminium or interior green. 

[rossm]

14 minutes ago, Elias said:

Any ideas about the interior colour?

I'm building a Manchester and I'm towards aluminium or interior green. 

Sorry, no clear information in the book but I would consider black as another possibility.

 

You probably already know but the Manchester has an FN4 rear turret, different from the FN20 of the Lancaster.

[Elias]

1 hour ago, rossm said:

Sorry, no clear information in the book but I would consider black as another possibility.

 

You probably already know but the Manchester has an FN4 rear turret, different from the FN20 of the 

In the available photos it seems that it was painted with some light colour. 

That is a bit strange due that they were night bombers.