 Flight deck. The hatch to the front is below the pilots elbows. |
My turn came to move up front and have a look. As I expected, getting around the ball was a little more difficult. The plane was rolling and bouncing as I tried to squeeze around. My right knee protested, but I got by without injury. I passed through radio into the bomb bay. The cat walk was very narrow, but getting past the bomb rack was a tight squeeze. Just as I was about to clear them, my britches latched onto something stopping me in my tracks. Moving onto the flight deck should have been straight forward, but the hatch was high and the plane was in motion. I kept my balance as I negotiated this obstacle and stepped onto the flight deck. The top turret mechanism had been removed, which would have otherwise made it impossible for more than 3 people to stand on the flight deck. The flight deck was still crowded. The pilots were almost elbow to elbow and stuffed into their seats. It didn't look like they had much room to wiggle about. The aft portion of the flight deck was lower than the pilot's platform. My height worked to my advantage here, otherwise I would have found it hard to look out of the windows. The control panel was modified to meet FAA standards, but I imagined the original didn't look too much different. The tunnel to the nose was immediately behind the throttles and between the seats. I dropped down onto my butt and demonstrated my talents as a contortionist. I was starting to think I wasn't going to be able to stuff myself into the hole, but I prevailed and made my way forward. I am told that the nose of the B24 was cramped and the B17's was roomier. I would have hated to have been in the nose of a 24. With two of us, we had to take care not to knock each other over, or to step on each others toes. I could stand in the rear, but had to watch my head up front. The view out of the bubble was tremendous. I surveyed my surroundings then tried to picture the bombardier at work. Not only was he responsible for dropping the bombs, but he (or the navigator) operated the chin turret. You feel extremely naked sitting there. Facing down an attacking Fw-190 there is no place to hide except behind the bomb sight and the gun controller, and those are little consolation. The British bomb sights weren't very accurate forcing them to bomb from low altitudes. This cost the British dearly and forced them to abandon daylight raids. Bombing only at night did little to help the strategic situation, and was meant more as a terror/harassment tactic than anything else. The Norden bomb sight was the key to daylight bombing. Originally developed for the Navy, the USAAF was quick to realize the sight's potential. The Norden bombsight was accurate enough to allow bombing from altitudes above 20,000 feet. This reduced the effectiveness of the FLAK batteries and made it harder for the attacking aircraft. The Norden sight was considered top secret during WWII. Downed crews were instructed to keep the sight out of enemy hands. Copyright © 1998-2024, 486th Bomb Group Association. |
 Engines #1 and #2. |
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 View from the navigator's chair. |
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 The top secret Norden bomb sight. |