" GUNNERY IN THE B-29 " ANIMATED B-29 SUPERFORTRESS CREW TURRET COMPUTER TRAINING FILM 19584
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Dating to 1945, this restricted WWII training film was produced by the War Department. It features animation that was likely done by the Warner Bros. studios with voices by Mel Blanc. The film looks at the sophisticated remote control turret system and firing computer used on board the aircraft. The analog computers in the B-29 central fire control system made corrections in three main areas to accurately aim the aircraft’s guns: ballistics, lead, and parallax. The B-29 was the first production aircraft to use them to remotely aim and fire aircraft gun turrets. The system in the B-29 employed analog electromechanical computers that used small, electrically-driven mechanical switches, called relays, instead of levers and gears. These devices were significantly faster than strictly mechanical computers.
The cartoon opens as an animated man shoots a machine gun in a 1940s arcade game. The character is great at the game and gets sucked into the selective service office 1:15. The man winds up in a B-29 1:40. The man explores the plane while the narrator speaks. He’s frustrated because he just wants to shoot guns but the purpose of the film is to teach that shooting is less about guns and more about mindset and training - and the technology of the GE Reflector Gunsight 2:28. The movie is also about highlighting the advanced technology in firepower possessed by the B-29 overall. Cartoon character fires a cannon from a rampart at a passing ship and needs to account for “lead” 3:10. The animation goes on to show the problems that guns needed to compensate for in the past 3:20. In air combat the gunner has to fire from a moving platform to hit a moving target 3:45. The modern gunner has a remote control turret system 4:15. A sight, a computer and the actual guns 4:30. The computer solves all the problems of a modern gunner 4:57. The sight is operated by the gunner 5:10. Animation shows the optical unit on the sight 5:20. The gunner frames to target 5:33. The computer gets the information from the sight and the computer sets off the guns 5:55. The character controls the gun with his sight 6:15. The range wheel controls the size of the reticle 6:29. The gunner sets the wingspan dial to tell the computer the size of the target 7:00. The platform moves at a high-speed 7:35. The line of sight and the gun coordinate 7:53. Animation shows how the computer adjusts for lead and speed 8:16. Lead must be decreased for targets that are closer 9:02. The offset is decreased to create the proper deflection 9:15. Typical enemy attack on a bomber 9:42. The cartoon gunner tries to frame the enemy airplanes 10:25. Several planes fill the screen at different speeds and it is very difficult 10:37. The character has trouble framing the slow plane 11:02. If the range wheel is set wrong, the bullets will not hit the target 11:30. The gunner tries to frame the slow plane but it is already on top of him 11:48. The gunner discovers where the triggers are on the sight to engage the guns 12:31. The gunner misses the plane 12:47. You need to continue framing while you’re firing 12:57. The narrator compares the gunning to driving a car and learning to use a clutch 13:22. The character has grown a beard implying how long it’s taking him to learn the new technology 13:45. GE Reflector Gunsight is the new B-29 Bomber gunning technology 14:00. The gunnery cartoon character flies away on his platform. The end. T.F. I - 3475.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
When you consider that the biplane shown in the cartoon was in use only about 30 years earlier, the advances in technology are truly astounding.
The Brits didn't retire their Swordfish biplane until 1945. After jets were in combat use.
@@lordgarion514 And a Swordfish crippled the Bismarck!
@@garethonthetube Yeah, I had actually forgot about that. Lol Seems insane.
Even in the early 1930s, only 10-15 years prior, biplanes were the standard
Now compare B-29 to XB-70. Around 20 years difference. One with props and pistons, another one going mach 3.
My turret gunners in War Thunder could use this film
got to spend that SL and get some training.
WT should have a gunner-mode like this
Jeez you're everywhere. Should be fun flying the B-29 at 7.3 now. Because reasons.
Ah yes, WT turret gunners. Snipers when shooting at you, blind rats when defending you. Perfectly balanced.
@@riograndedosulball248 I don't even bother trusting the job to them anymore. I just do it myself and I have been infinitely happier and learned how to use them decently enough unless it's a jet, which is always fun....
Glad I found this. Now the next time I'm in a B-29 being attacked by WW2 fighters, I'll know exactly what to do.
Unfortunately your gunners in war thunder won't
Oh no, Vechs is learning how to destroy PSJR in a modpack with B-29s
@@nesyboi9421 yup
lol
It may also prove useful if you happen to find yourself in a B-29 over North Korea, with MiGs coming at you.
These old training films are so incredibly effective at keeping the viewer's attention and relaying the necessary information in an entertaining, easy to understand manner. Everything now is way too formal, tedious, and boring - relying too heavily on field manuals and the like. Simple visual aids and down to earth explanation go a long way towards increasing the student's understanding and skill quickly.
Back then, A sizable amount of the conscripts had not even graduated high school so they needed to keep things simple
A lot of military training is based on filling time, you are required to have two hours of instruction on X so it gets dragged out. When I developed training it was direct and to the point, pity that the this is the exception and not the standard.
this is what happens when government hires animators and big studios like Disney
Yeah dude making this animation in the past is absolutely Masterpiece, even only 5 minute. Imagine 24fps or less picturr and you have to drawn it together by your mate for 15-minutes video, was like 900 second video for 24 fps or less, was like 21,600 or less Picture you made for this filming I really appreciate that, or maybe am wrong?
@@beeg8615 Yeah, but keeping things simple also means people understand and can effectively use them rather than having to devote a lot of off-work hours to studying it.
I love how the narrator voice immediately shifts to “tf you just say?!” When joes says “I never shoulda enlisted”
"What." Lol
@@BigboiiTone I'll make an vault-tec propaganda with the same style of this one, but i have to plan what to analyze in it. Do you have any suggestions?
@@lucasoreidopunho3556 use the music from this era
@@ZaHandle Well, I already I thought about it, but what about the *content* of the video?
@@lucasoreidopunho3556 no idea
4:57 The B-29 remote turret knows where the target is at all times. It knows this because the operator knows where it isn't.
*I understood that reference*
Lol
In the event of the operator not knowing where the target will be, it can calculate where it wasn't
@@mustardmanmax5733 by calculating the difference between where it was from where it isn't
bc he knows where it is
It's actually impressive that they had that kind of pretty sophisticated tech back in WW2.
sounds or seems like the cutting edge tech of today even though it logically shouldnt
They also used targeting computers in naval ships and german flak formations. Putting one on a bomber where the guns only have very limited ammo is pure genius.
@@xandercreates6766 Its actually similar to how these types of weapons work still, except instead of having to ID, plug range, and wingspan the radar does all that automatically and you just put the sight over the target. Some weapon systems can actually do everything including aiming like a CWIS on a ship that automatically will detect, track, and destroy incoming threats.
@@xandercreates6766 The modern targeting systems actually work practically the same way. The only difference is that the range is provided by a radar instead of a hand-cranked dial.
@@mr.wizard6891 It was actually all about time. A B-17 bomber had MORE than enough ammo, but the issue is that as fighters got faster, the ability of a gunner to finish correcting his lead before the fighter had already passed him up had practically disappeared. The B-29's sight cut down on correction shooting
So the XBox is just a coordination training device for future gunners.
¿ X box es computador?
No jodas pensé que era un vegetal
@@alexM1a No me gusta la salchicha con huevos en mi pantalones... si.
Actually... that's not far from the truth. There's a couple of documentaries from a few years back that had prototype tanks being controlled with XBOX controllers. The idea was that future generations of military personnel would have faster reaction times because they were some of the first generations to grow up in the gaming era. Greater dexterity and hand/eye coordination. I think they got the idea from The Last Star Fighter. A movie from the 80's.
Generation Kill.
Finally I understood how the b29 remote turrets were functioning!😊
Thats only controlling one turret. It was possible to control two. It was all up to the gunner sitting in the barbers chair at the front of the communications tunnel. The rear gunner only had control over his guns.
@@markfryer9880 Did the rear gunner have a similar system?
@@co8783 yes? I think so
This system was too complex and was present only on early versions as far as i know
@@jeTROGIBBS Do you know what the later versions used?
I love these old training films, and the fact that you can tell who is voicing Joe :)
Mel Blanc!
@@davidfifer4729 The man, the myth, the legend! I, to this day, wish I could have had a chance to meet him in person to thank him for his amazing work!!!
Did Mel Blanc receive any commendations for his work? I mean, to help teach soldiers how to fight is no small feat!
@@octaviovaladaoferreirinhad2689 Maybe, but its doubtful. Likely he did it just to help with the war effort. I love these old training films, and as soon as I heard his voice, I know if I had been a B-29 gunner in training, I would have listened and been trying to hold back my laughter! But, also what a wonderful way to help make learning a lot easier to digest!
@@davidfifer4729 Not Doris Day???
No wonder that plane was so classified. The Russians must of had a field day when they copied that one
Very unfortunately and actually if my memory serves me correct they had other three to copy fully. It had been really a field day that saved years and money to catch up with the Americans...
I read that Stalin ordered it to be copied EXACTLY down to the nuts and bolts. So the Soviet engineers couldn't even make common-sense changes for fear of their life.
@@littleshopofelectrons4014 the great difference between B-29 and the Russian copy was that the copy was converted in millimetres and simplified/modified overcomplicated parts of the airplane and actually improved.....
@Damn Randy Russia doin' what they do best: Copying whatever America does.
(edited) From the article from the Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, the Central Station Fire Control System of the B29, whose operation by the gunners was was described here in the video, was one of the more complex systems to copy.
I want this cartoon to get turned into powder and i want all my gunners in Warthunder to snort it
All of them, so you want your b17 gunners to stop accounting for everything and just look and point.
@@Night-zn4ew they actually shoot so
Nah, vaporize it and pump it into the cabin. Give them no choice in the matter.
l want all you gamers to learn a real trade
@@Night-zn4ew yes, it’s not like they’re real people
Something not mentioned was that besides the analog computer under the floor doing the trigonometry, there was a "stable element" of three high speed gyroscopes mounted in the x, y and z axis above the bomb bay correcting the guns for the pitch, yaw and roll of the B-29. The (rather overworked) gun captain in the top blister could assign multiple turrets to the gunner in the threat direction so that all four turrets could be assigned to one gunner if so indicated. Pretty much the same fire control system of a battleship mounted on an airplane. Later, the tail gunner had a radar first pioneered by the British to give him the range, so all he had to do was point and shoot.
Battleship was a manual analog computer, with lots of manual imputs into gears, slides etc. very badass tech really.
Also if one of the gunners was not operating his gun control, its control was automatically given to another gunner so both turrets would fire at the same target. I believe the B29 program, with the computerized turret control, cost more than the Manhattan Project. No 4-engine bombers were included in Lend Lease to the USSR.
The bombardier would set the altitude of the aircraft into the targeting system so the computer could calculate for the effect on the bullets because of lower air density the higher up the plane was.
@@just_one_opinion Go read up on the fire control system of the Iowa class computers. When firing with the radar director, target tracking and the positioning of the turrets and gun elevation were all computed and communicated automatically. There were inputs for things like shell velocity (differed for armored piercing vs. high explosive rounds), air density (varying with temperature and humidity) and a few other things that couldn't be automatically determined.
@@ZER0ZER0SE7EN wow! I had no idea 1940s computers where capable of calculating anything this complicated
12:07 Frank was the allied reporting name for the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Gale) widely regarded as the best WW2 Japanese fighter plane that actually got deployed in significant Numbers. the Ki-84's unique ability to be able to intercept the B-29 Superfortress regardless of altitude probably makes it no accident that the aircraft makes an appearance in this training film
Well it was rather too late of an appearance of Japanese equivalent to the German FW-190.
@@kaletovhangar 'Too late' for what, exactly? Japan's only bet was US not dragging itself into a prolonged war and settling with the peace talks.
This video covers only the individual sighting station of which there were four, two on each side of the aircraft fore and aft. There was a master gunner's station with a blister on top which controlled which sighting station controlled a turret or turrets. There was a master control computer which was designed to automate the process but in WWII service was not reliable so it was normally done manually. I knew a guy who was a B-29 and later B-50 tail gunner during the Korean War. He stated that in the Korean War time frame the system had been debugged and worked well. Despite what some of you might have read or think you know, he claimed that they had no problem keeping a MiG-15 at bay and regularly flew missions in flights of three with no fighter escort. He received credit for three MiG-15 downed, one full credit and a number of shared as well as several confirmed with significant damage.
Oooh! Can you tell us more?
@@wrenpl9070 It's a long story to do it justice. Since the tail guns were not controlled by the central fire control system it:s more about the .50 cal. tail guns vs the cannon of the MiG.
Wow! What a badass!
My dad was a waist gunner in B-29s in Korea. He said that Migs moved so fast that even a good gunner had trouble keeping them targeted. He said the best and usually only way to get them was when they turned away and you could see the glow from the exhaust because it was easier to see and only one round up the tail would take down a Mig. He said also that the guy in the bubble on top was the 'master gunner' and could take control of any of the turret guns but normally the computer automatically controlled who fired the turret based on where the sights were pointed.
Dale Comer: can you tell that story about his first MiG?
Thanks for posting this piece of history. My Dad was a gunner on a B29 so I imagined him watching this as a young adult.
May i ask what turret if you know (dorsal, rear, front, etc...)
@@krtinja3dprinting759 my Dad was a rear gunner. They trained initially on B24s and then were transitioned to B29s.
@@leonardgordon1748 how jealous I am right now. I would have picked his brain without end. My grandfather was in the 29th Inf. Div. but sadly died when I was very young.
Mel Blanc: best cartoon voiceover artist in the business.
“Great shot kid! Don’t get cocky.”
This would have been from the Warner Bros. Studio. Bob McKimson animation; Mel Blanc doing the voice of the gunnery student.
And other sounds...
@@robertmayer7678 Exactly! Mel Blanc doing his "Maxwell" routine for the German biplane!
Makes sense Bob McKimson was the animator, he was considered one of the best draftsmen at the studio, and they would need a great draftsman to do animation involving sophisticated machinery.
Keep in mind that McKimson was one of the top animators at the studio at the time and he might have worked with Jones while he supervised the animation. They used to call animation direction supervision at one point. McKimson started directing after WWII, but before that he was a top animator.@@JohnC6398
My father was a waist gunner in B-29s in Korea (port (left) side waist bubble). He likely watched this film. He passed away 2 years ago but he used to tell me about how to shoot using the remote turret controls. He didn't call them 'triggers' though... he said they called them "action switches". I have his silver gunners wings still.
I'm calling the triggers on my controllers "action switches" now.
Keep your booger hooks off the action switches,...
given that this movie must have been madein or around 1944 how amazing is the depiction of an early video gamein the opening frames.
They were still using those mechanical arcade games in the '70s when I started going to arcades. They were pretty amazing, considering that much of the computation was being done by gears and motors, etc. But, of course, at age 7, I didn't appreciate the intricacy.
@@harryhenrygebel3506 I remember a submarine one the wasn't very hard but there was a dogfighting one which I found very tricky to control.
Wow! Thanks for posting these WW2 military "How-to" films! More please!
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60 years ago, my B-29 command gunner dad tried to explain this system to me. My 8 year old self was as confused as the cartoon guy. Wish I could have seen this cartoon back then!
God bless your father for his service to our great nation!
@@PeriscopeFilm Thank you! And thank you very much for posting these excellent vintage films. Although today's Army training films and online videos aren't too much different!
We had the hydraulic system of a B-29 gun turret in my high school home room (Brooklyn Tech) !
That sounds like the most badass homeroom ive ever heard of.
PeriscopeFilm I am Going to Enjoy this My Father was in the US army Air Corps He was a Tail Gunner in The B-29 Smoky Stover .His Name was Clarence Ziegler and He went to That special School out west He enlisted in The Army Air Corps after Just turning 17 years old before Pearl. And He was Stationed in Chakulia India in The First 4 ever Flights over the Hump. In a B-29 as a Tail Gunner.. later He was at Tinian Island during the time the H Bombs were sent to Japan He loaded Bombs there. I have Flown in the B-29 FI FI at the world War II weekend in Reading pa and Have Reenacted as a General There.. Thank you for posting this!
God bless your dad for his service to our great nation. Consider becoming a member kzhead.info/sun/gqh7h5eojZOeiH0/bejne.html
Crazy to think the B29 was the most expensive project of the war, it cost even more to develop then the Atomic Bombs it dropped!
Kid: "Gee, must be fun being an aerial gunner!" B-17 gunner, trying to shovel his intestines back in, pauses long enough to give a thumbs up and grins through the frozen bloody bits that used to be his friend's head and neck: "YEP! Best time of my life up here!!!!"
Reminds me of a story I heard from a Lancaster crew member. A couple of years ago, there was some even going on at Udvar Hazy. I think they were celebrating the RAF's 100th anniversary and they had a bunch of WWII RAF pilots show up. One of them was telling a story where a crew member went to use the lavatory before a bomb run (which was little more than a bucket,) sat down on the seat, and promptly had his rear end frozen to it. The guy couldn't get off until they were on approach back at base. Something tells me that never happened in a B-29.
I didn't find out until last month that The Army Air Corp lost more men in combat than the entire USMC.
@@longrider188 and in fact, the army air forces suffered far fewer causalities than the Lancaster crews. "Out of 125,00 bomber command crewman, over 55,00 were killed." Vs the b-17. In the US eighth air force, there were approx. 250k people, and only around 20k were killed. And I'm not here saying it was peachy or anything. It was hell. But you had a relatively high survival chance for bombers of that era in the b 17
@Lazys The Dank Engineer , Beach force? I don't know if you are ignorant or trolling. I suggest you read up on the island hopping campaigns in the Pacific during WWII. Watch the mini series "The Pacific or read "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge.
I would agree that being a B17 gunner is worse but only for this reason: kzhead.info/sun/edOKobOIfqKwjaM/bejne.html
4:25 the computer is for the gunner to play games on while waiting for enemy fighters to show up
funy
SuperFortnite, no doubt.
@@mkvv5687 no.
Modern day ppl : i bet the ww2 bomber crew still use gun manually B-29 : *hold my beer*
to be fair, most people think of the B 17 when they think a WW2 bomber
I don't know what's more impressive, the B29 and its systems or the quality of this animation
If only it was in HD
“I never shoulda enlisted” Glad to see that the sentiment was the same back then.
Mel Blanc, the voice of my youth. Sylvester, bugs, foghorn leghorn, tweety, good times😄
And now we can add "gunner Joe" to the list.
Thanks to those involved in preserving historical films.
10:16 Me playing any video game.
3:55 i never knew that! so helpful!
I once saw an interview with a B-29 gunner and he said this sighting system still took a lot of skill to master, but once one got the hang of it, it was very effective.
Honestly? I feel like people learn better like this. It holds your attention, despite the fact a good chunk of people who watch this won't ever be in service. Simple explanations, down to earth reasoning, easy to watch visual aid.
@14:00 "I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind."
That made me think of Roland and the Dark Tower as well ;)
The great Mel Blanc doing the voice of the character. RIP Mel.
I love these types of classic military cartoons. Brings back good memories of the good old days.
Wow, I didn't realize we had anything quite this advanced in 1945. This is amazing.
Impressive. I had no idea that WWII had that kind of technology for gunsights.
I know, right? I'm astounded!
It gets better. Some British bombers had tail turrets that were radar-directed: just point the sights at the target and the radar tells the guns the rest.
That. Is a really cool gun device. I wondered how the remote gunnery stuff worked.
*This is one of the most funniest Military Made videos ever* Bruh, their humor fits with modern day humor we got
Stfu no it doesn't
After watching multiple videos that just say 'remote controlled turrets operated from inside the aircraft' but no further explanation I finally decided to find out how they actually worked, and I'm glad I did
"I should be an aerial gunner!"
the very first line in this magnificent historic American educational reel is spot on !
I can't believe this existed in the 1940's. Absolutely incredible engineering.
As a former B52G Gunner, I can really appreciate this. :)
Entertaining and informative. Very good. Until recently, I didn't even know that there were remote-controlled guns at the time of WW2. The B-29 was real high-end technology back then.
My great grand father was a tail gunner on a B-24 in the North Africa campaign, he was a Scottish man who moved to Northern Ireland and then the us as a young man. He served his time in the war and then lived a peaceful life in nyc for the rest of his days, and he kept the Glasgow accent the whole time
"Must be fun to be a aerial gunner" Any B17 bomber under attack by a M3 109:
This is another great episode because i will always like how they explain the inner working of how they have to learn how to be a great plane gunner
That "selective service" building gave me some real going to Brazil vibes
In this case it would’ve been You’re going to Japan/Korea (Since this is from 1945, probably Japan)
its honestly really impressive they developed this technology all the way back then, and then had it manufactured on such a scale for military use, that was a real feat back in the day
Vacuum tubes. Analog processing. Amazing. As cutting edge as anything we 2021's can offer. The B-29 also was pressurized in both the forward cabin and way back to the tail gunner. A cruise ship compared to most of the earlier bombers.
There was a tunnel over the bomb bay, with a trolley to enable crewmen to get from one end to the other. If pressure wasn't pretty closely matched, this could turn into a ride like the cartridge in a pneumatic tube system at your local bank.
@@SoloPilot6 That makes no sense. It was all the same pressure. I've been in a B-29 and I assure you that the forward cabin, the tube, and the rear gunner were all connected.
@@frequentlycynical642 If you say so. My information came from guys who had not only "been in a B-29," but flew them in combat over Japan and Korea. But hey, what would THEY know about it?
"Modern kids never woulda cut it in WW2" Modern Kids: *shoot down the entire axis airforce from B-29 remote turrets*
Except that the B29 wasn't available in any significant numbers until the end of the war
@@firestorm165 so they could shoot down the Axis airforce of 17 planes by 1945
@@ActuallyEarth Probably. I doubt that they could pull off the same feat in 1939
I mean my arthritic grandma could shoot down a German plane with a damn nerf gun. Their Air Force was shit.
@@diamond_tango sure
Love the training films, and I was just wondering aloud to a friend about how much difference there was between the B-29 with its auto turrets and other bombers (yes, we're a little to into history, but in my defense we'd taken the kids to a museum).
Similar system was employed on the later Spitfires and Mustangs equipped with gyro gunsights. The pilot selected the enemy aircraft type using a dial on the sight and controlled the diameter of the the reticle by twisting the throttle grip with his left hand.
Same with the top and ball turrets on the B17 and B24
3:47 I actually love the sass in this bit “where would you aim?”
Just saw, and toured Fifi, the current (as of 7/2021) last flying B29. This video explained what I saw in the waist gunner window. Crazy shit
The B-29 was faster than the Spitfire fighter of the Battle of Britain. A fully loaded B-29 was heavier than a Tiger tank. A squadron of 16 B-29s lined up nose to tail would be twice as long as the battleship Bismark.
it has a lot of guns and bombs too
Ok?
@@SwindlerJeff shut up kid
@@cortex8239 ironically, most of the people that say "shut up kid" are under 18
@@SwindlerJeff It's pretty weird to act like information is somehow an attack on you. It's just interesting trivia. You don't have to try and shame people.
I watch videos like these when I go to bed, they help me relax lol
Back in the early 60's when I was a kid an arcade at a local mini-golf course had several bomber top turret simulators. Even as a kid I could tell these weren't purpose-built arcade games but ex-military. They were big and heavy. You looked through a periscope type viewer at enemy fighters swooping in at you from different angles and every hit was mechanically recorded on a counter. The animation was excellent, especially for its time. Needless to say, I loved that game.
I remember those. A arcade at the Newport Beach Pier back in the 80's had several and like you I could tell they were ex-military. And yes the animation was great.
Wow, this is incredible. Thanks for all the work you do to preserve and share these priceless films!
Never knew this before!!
At 1:12, they show the most accurate representation of a military recruiting office when a high school senior passes by it
This system is both brilliant and cumbersome. It's amazing what scientists and engineers could come up with using those primitive computing components.
Big question I have always wondered. Did they do studies that proved in real world fighting conditions the remote control turrets in B-29 were indeed more accurate and destroyed more planes than the more manually controlled gun turrets from the older B-17, B-24, etc? Just curious as I can see that an improperly trained gunner in these systems could actually be worse then a manually operated turret.
Once again thanks to periscope films..🤝
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Sure .
"...forward speed imparted to da rabbit..." LOL! Gotta love Mel Blanc.
This video is hilarious. I like that it takes the 1940’s gunners distrust of electronics into consideration.
Cool, now i can operate an automatic leading bomber turret
"good shooting takes more than guns, joe" deep american philosophy
I love these videos. Just think Soldier back then watched this too. Just on a projector
I could watch old training films like this forever. Thanks for posting!
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Holy crap this gun sight would be realy hard to use. I was saying to my self that if you had several attacking fighters at once you would be freaking out. think only chance you have would be to commit to 1 object an thats or leave the dial set at one distance and adjust fire when anything comes into range. Constantly having to change the dials as the attacker turns and dives an speeds up would be extremely difficult in the chaos of combat.
I think it's much more deadly than a more classic turret or mounted gun. you're not even firing with a single turret but with 4 of them at the same time. there is a lot of information going on, but not having to think about bullet drop and lead makes it worth
Keep in mind, they have a similar system on fighters of the time, so it could be worse in terms of workload haha
@@isni1946 Was thinking "it" fired all firable weapons at once on the B-29 at a single target.impressive but yeah,shiet.. Also heard, the gunner position was seated backwards facing in the aircraft(B-29) an gunners would complain of extreme vertigo, this was the worst position in the bomber?
All you have to do is adjust the circle size as the plane changes distance while you aim. Playing Super smash bros sounds harder than that if I'm gonna be honest
@@bob38028 "all you have to do is just shot the target"...... No shyt. Remember your also are seated backwards facing towards the tail in the aircraft. You would have to commit to one aircraft to even have a chance of hitting it. Knowing all firable guns are firing at the single target, goes without saying.
I have trouble imagining a gunner being able to "frame" a plane that is flying back and forth and doing every maneuver possible to avoid getting shot.
The issue with this comment is in this situation that plane needs to take this bomber down, meaning he needa to be directed directly towards the bomber long enough to give off a fairly significant burst of fire from his guns, giving the gunner time to aim and fire at him while the fighter is trying to get his bead on the bomber.
@@nesyboi9421 In other words, once the gunner has framed the fighter, the fighter is already blasting bullets through the bomber.
@@scottlarson1548 in other words as the fighter is finally getting his sights on the bomber the gunner is tearing his wings off. The B-29's system was significantly better than just having a gun on a swivel.
Usually the attacking aircraft needs to get to the direct rear for most shots since it's easiest there. Ironically it's also the best place for the bomber to shoot the fighter. Not to mention it would take quite a significant amount of lead to down a B-29
@@owenkegg5608 That's why they used cannons.
Military cartoon in 20th century: Actual funny animations with informative teachings. Military cartoon in 21st century: My moms are gay so I deserve the right not to die.
this is more informative than modern schools i would know im in one
Good thing Pvt Snafu was not involved.
Like the guy before me I love these old training films. A B29 would def be the bomber to be in in WW2
Actually it wasn't cared for by the crews.
According to what I have read over the years, the B-29, although an impressive machine, was hurried into production and was therefore plagued with many problems. Many of these affected reliability. Engine fires were common. According to the writings of crews that I have seen, the bomber that truly endeared itself to its crews was the B-17, due to its ability to sustain incredible combat damage and still get the crew back to base, even if the plane never flew again.
The amount of mathematics that must have gone into calculating all of this and then the engineering to put it into a 1940s computer thats probably mechanical, is on another level. The designers must have had brains bigger than a B-29
Thanks I was missing a lot when I was gunning in my B-17
You never was
Didn't you say that if I keep the recticle on the target, the confuser would instantaciously offset the guns? Precisely.
" Imparted speed to the Rabbit"
Wabbit. Huhuhuhuhuh!
Good ole Mel Blanc doing the voices.
Thank you, Rimmy.
This would make an interesting video game
Call of duty 2 had a B17 gunner level. You had to run from station to station to protect your bomber on a bombing run and don't hit friendly fighters and bombers.
@@obelic71 that was CoD 3 i think Or was it wordl at war? But im prettu sure CoD 2 dint had that
@@tinchorb1340 Yep. It is World at War but it was not a B-29 Bomber rather it was A PBY-CATALINA class plane. The mission was called BLACK CATS also derived from the planes name which is Black Cats. Call of Duty 2 Almost entirely consist of Ground Combats.
... and now we fight with gaming console hand controllers, funny how times have changed or have they?
Periscope should take all of these animated training films and put them on DVD Blue Ray or whatever. I'd buy all of them just for the animation history value, but something more too. The UNDERSTANDING that goes with a film like this is just so wonderful. The remaining vets of WW2 are now 96 years of age on average. What they did and how they did it will sooner or later be history rather than living memory. Films like this tell us 80 years later what they went thru FOR US. These films keep alive events that changed the world, Its our job to keep films like this so we don't forget and so we can tell our kids what happened why and how.
What an incredible plane! Just amazing what the US could come up with when they needed to.
Is there anywhere in America where this accent can still be heard?
Was there anyplace it was ever spoken?
@@kaptainkaos1202 Brooklyn?
Mel Blanc said it was mix of Brooklyn and Bronx because those were the toughest people he knew. See his autobiography " Thats not all Folks"
Still be hoid**
A lot of American accents have already gone extinct since the invention of radio, TV, and the Internet. But most destructive to accents of all was the invention of the US highway system. People being able to easily move around made accents less local, and eventually many of them simply disappeared from so much migration and centralization of culture.
Mel Blanc characterization.
Beat me to it
The quality of the animation is exceptional. All on ones, very smooth and fluid. And just for a short training film!
Thanks for your comment. It is a really impressive film. Glad you enjoyed it! Subscribe and consider becoming a channel member kzhead.info/sun/gqh7h5eojZOeiH0/bejne.html
Incredible tech, and cleverly presented and informative. As good as it gets. Thanks for posting.
Jesus, how the hell are you meant to do all that & shoot down a plane? Did they ever hit anything? Hats off to the gunners!
Check out the flexible gunnery video staring the same gunner.
it's probably much deadlier than the classic turrets or mounted machineguns, they don't have to think about bullet drops and lead, the gunners are basically sensors for the computer. telling direction and distance of the target. And they can fire 4 turrets at the same time, making it devastating
If only they could have added radar for range, the targeting would have required much less skill. Ultimately the man could have been taken completely out of the tracking loop. Unfortunately, small microwave radars were still a few years away.
They did have centimetric radars for night and cloud bombing.
They had microwave airborne intercept radar for night fighters.
It was a few years after this. The B-47 tail guns used radar. The later B-45 tail guns may have. The Mig 19's had radar jammers. One B-47 was lost that way.
This is quite impressive, explaining the basics of the job and the nuances of the system it's supposed to operate. This helps to dissuade people who just wants to handle guns from applying for the job and probably convert some of them into having an interest in the job.
Films like this are the primary reason I maintain a KZhead account...