A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military
aircraft who functions as a
gunner defending against attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner position on an aircraft operates a fixed
machine gun emplacement on the top or bottom of the aircraft with a generally unobstructed view toward the tail of the aircraft. While the term tail gunner is usually associated with a crewman operating a manned
gun turret, possibly in a glass enclosure, tail gunnery armaments may also be operated by remote control from another part of the aircraft. The tail gun armament and arrangement varied with users. US
heavy bomber designs like the Flying Fortress and Superfortress favoured a fixed gunner seat with the guns themselves rotating about a point covering an arc of some 90 degrees or more. Two
heavy machine guns of 0.50 inch was typical; some carried a third heavier caliber weapon. By comparison
British heavy bombers designs standardized on a powered turret capable of 180 degree rotation armed with four 0.303 inch guns. For German aircraft the gun position covering the tail was often in the dorsal position at the rear of the crew compartment or part way along the back of the fuselage. This gave a reasonable coverage above the line of the fuselage but might be supplemented by a ventral position that covered to the rear below the fuselage.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
[Slang], the thunderstorm at the southernmost end of a
squall line or other line or band of thunderstorms. Since low-level southerly inflow of warm, moist air into this storm is relatively unimpeded, such a storm often has a higher probability of strengthening to severe levels than the other storms in the line.
Free Download Now!
