How Effective was the WWII B-29 Tail Gunner? 

father-in-law sgt. Archie Hamrik was a tail gunner on the Ramp Queen, a B-29 from Saipan. loved his 20 mm cannon and kept it operational throughout the war. won the distinguished flying cross. pinned on by gen. Curtis Lemay. JDR

Your videos are well presented with no pointless fluff. A large amount of these types of videos are just a long list of numbers and meaningless statistics to fill air time. 👍👍👍

The actor Charles Bronson was a veteran B-29 tail gunner.

As an engineer I love the level of detail in this video. Well done.

Ashtray just cracks me up. They thought of everything!

Very well supported report. Thank you. I have witnessed ground-to-ground quad-50 caliber M-2 fire, so I can imagine the swarm of armor piercing rounds flung at an attacking aircraft by the twin 50's. A sign of the times: complete with ash tray.

What is amazing is how B-52 tail gunners were able to down MiG's in Vietnam with their 4 50 calibers!

The all important ash tray with 20 camels (or your preferred brand). Essential for the nerves at a few thousand feet with the Japanese airforce intent on bringing you down at all costs. Reminds me of Galland fixing an ashtray in his Messerschmit.

Thanks for another great video. These videos are very well done with well thought out verbal descriptions, visuals and documentation. Very informative w/o hype and over the top excesses.

Who else misses AWESOME shows like Wings on the History Channel, that were in-depth and informative, back when they used to focus on you know, history haha! 😉 😂

Great video! My maternal grandfather was a Waist Gunner on the B29 with the 20th Air Force. I have manuals, classified at the time, that were used for reference on the computers, gun systems, etc. Pretty neat stuff

Thanks for this. My dad was a B-29 tail gunner. I still have his oxygen mask. When I was stationed at Ft Knox, I gave dad a tour of our tank, conduct of fire trainer. The gun controls were made by Cadillac Gauge and not unfamiliar to Dad’s hands. He was nailing targets out to 3,000 meters.

Love your content! Extremely useful and informative stuff. Keep up the great work 🤙

It’s actually fascinating how quickly the tail gunner goes from eyeballing and crude sights to take out enemy fighters to upgrading quickly to computer aided, projected crosshairs to easily take out hostile craft. All with a complimentary ash tray in your gunners seat, thank you for a very interesting and informative video, I hope there’s more videos with their same informative standard for the rest of the B-29 and other craft.

Your videos are fantastic! Thank you for all the hard work.

Very informative video. Thankyou for sharing. My father was a B-29 pilot-in-command in July 1945 with his own assigned B-29 crew. He and his crew missed the war in the Pacific by only two weeks because the war with Japan had ended. He later joined the newly formed USAF in 1947 where he flew WB-29's for the Air Weather Service. He would hunt hurricanes and track their position. He would also fly through clouds to check for radiation to see if the Soviets had detonated any atomic weapons. The gunnery system in the B-29 Superfortress was very unique. Its central fire control system eliminated recoil and its computer system calculated wind speed and allowed for bullet drop. The only other aircraft to have a similar gunnery system was the Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter in which the top gun turret was controlled by the gunner and by the radar officer in the tail of the fuselage. The top gun turret on the Black Widow was later removed because the muzzle flashes from the guns had a tendancy to blind the pilot. They were later reintroduced on the P-61C models when flash arrestors were installed on the guns.

I watched the documentary on the Kee Bird. The outcome was devastating. So close. The main mechanic on that project was quite a character. It was sad to learn he passed away from illness shortly after.

I learn so much from this channel. Great content!

I'll tell a story from my father's family history. My Dad started in the '30's as an aerial gunner in the old B-10. This was during the Great Depression (when an Army job was a big win)From he went on to an instructor in aerial gunnery (this was all before Pearl Harbor). He was so good at it they sent him to bombardier training, That was the introduction of the 'Heavy bombers like the B-17, b-24 and the B-29. Since he was an (old man) in his thirties they never would allow him to transfer to the 8th air force in the ETO. They said, since he was a good instructor, they couldn't let him go. That was for the twenty year olds. He was too valuable...so they kept promoting him (even into officer ranks). The NORDEN bomb-sight was becoming the big bet they were placing and they needed highly experienced men to understand it and train on it. So, that's what he did for the rest of the war. I know that he contributed a big effort to the USAAF. But I think that training so many men were killed weighed on him. so, suffering isn't limited to those that get shot out.

And here I was the entire time thinking that the tail gunner on the B-29 was remote controlled. I’m more of a tank guy and only know the basics of WW2 aircraft and probably have two aircraft confused. That being said, the B-29 is absolutely beautiful and amazing for when it was built. There is a B-29 on the bottom of Lake Mead in immaculate condition with talk of recovering it….it would be awesome to see this aircraft in person.

Very well presented, good pacing, fascinating information, great photography! Thanks for the video!

One of my late uncle (on dad's side) was a tail gunner of a B-29 during the Pacific Theater.

A susual, a very thorough and well-done report on the B-29 Tail Gunner's position. I always enjoy your videos.

As a retired soldier , I worked with a 'Secret Spy Base in England, a colleague, female had been an an RAF photographer, making a record of damage on bombers returning she said of the rear gunner area, we often had to wash out that area before we could take photographs.

Very informative, your presentation flows well is logical and every element you include is very detailed. It is if you could get in and go on a mission as a tail gunner. Thanks

Eye-opening--thanks! I was a bit surprised about no tracers; they could cause an enemy to break off an attack and given the B-29's altitude and speed, the enemy might not be able to catch up for another pass.

I love that the tail gunner’s station had an ashtray 😅 I guess it can’t have been pressurised with pure oxygen then??

At night they could also fly low hidden in the dark and follow the planes silhouetted against the sky, and if it's a moonless or cloudy night track the Flames from the exhaust. Coming up from the depths and taking a swipe which would illuminate their position, then diving back down into the darkness. They let you flick all those switches and sit in the seat, that is a Great Museum.

My father was a volunteer tail gunner with the 462nd bomb group. He only shot down one fighter a Zero.

I knew the man who Sold the "new" WWII surplus radials to the 95 tragedy crew! He gave and my kids a tour and showed us a few more treasures as he wept tears of responsibility, RIP old man Oxman's Surplus lived to be over 100. then his son inherited his museum and Surplus treasures and sold a New "surplus" Ball Turit, then he passed. 100% plug and Go! and it is now gunned up and mounted in a trailer last I saw.

This was an amazing video! Thank you! And you did it all within 10 minutes! It points up what I think Mark Twain said something like this: "Sorry for the long speech. I wanted to do a 3-minute speech but only had time for the 20-minute one."

This is a subject I have always wondered about. You hear and see a lot about early B-17 defensive gunnery, but rarely ever anything related to the B-29. I think it would be fascinating as not only were they well protected with advanced systems, they also went up against some very advanced Japanese fighters, again something we don't really see or hear about much. Zero had range needs. But in homeland defense climb rates and fire density were the needs

100% relevant material. Clear and concise, while integrating loads of cool stats and only relevant material.

I get so excited when you have a new upload.. I love this stuff.

A well laid out and informative video. The only thing ,imho, missing is a count of actual number of enemy fighters destroyed vs bomber losses. thank you for the video.

Use of primary research material - exceptional in a YT video.

Interestingly the 'Kee Bird' featured in the 'Nova' episode was forced down not only to being unable to navigate over the Arctic Circle, but higher than usual fuel consumption because of the drag created by the tail skid that failed to retract after take-off. As duly noted it lacked any manual crank just for such an event. The 'putt-putt' engine helped save the crew by providing power to broadcast a distress signal that rescuers were able to triangulate and finally locate them in the sometimes -50 F environment after a couple of days.

In the corporate turboprop aircraft that I fly, the cabin pressurization system is set for differential pressure, not a specific cabin altitude. The cabin altitude will vary depending on the altitude of the aircraft, since the differential pressure remains constant. Typically, the operational ceiling of the aircraft is determined by a maximum cabin altitude of less than 10,000 feet to comply with Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) requirements. As an example, a BE-B200 King Air has a maximum differential pressure of 6.6 psi, giving an approximate cabin altitude of slightly less than 10,000 feet at a service ceiling of FL350 (35,000 feet).

Thanks, like how you display all the primary sources also.

Love the channel for its a StarWars engineer's handbook feeling!

Imagine being on the ground while the bombers are making their runs and they dumping 50 shells from a mile high on to what ever down bellow! And glad they didn't forget the ash tray. Can't light up bad guys without a smoke!

my grandfather was the gunner of b29's in the korean war.

Your videos are awesome thanks for your work you deserve 1 million subscribers 👍🇭🇲

Great video I look forward to seeing the notification of your new videos. I also wonder how many people get hit on the head from spent shells in Europe. That's a crap load of brass falling from the sky 😂. Keep up the great work don't be afraid to do an hour long video 👍peace.

I think that it is fair to say that the tail gunners were so effective and necessary that the position was kept in the B-52 until ~1991.

Would love to see a follow video detailing combat effectiveness of B29 against Migs in Korean War.

I like how the ashtray was considered a essential piece of equipment.

Excellent vid! Really appreciate the insights, narrative, and statistics. Wonderful and thank you!

this is pretty awesome, didnt know how sophisticated the system was

My father was a radio operator on a B-29 in WWII. Please do a video on the radio operator's station.

I didn't know I wanted to know this - Thanks for a very well made analysis.

Very interesting information I never heard before. That was pretty Advanced for 1945.

This is the content I look for. You’ve got my subscription.

This appears to be video of the B29 at the Seattle Museum of Flight Pavilion, the 787 nose visible, the tail of the Concorde SST and the engine wing of a B47 !!!

Incredible technology for that period! Thanks!

Enjoyed this information on the B29

Love the ash tray, best feature

Great video. Thanks for answering questions I always had about the B 29.

Thank you for the time and effort you put into your video, thumbs up.

Quality of the build, wow.. Espcially those flush rivets & that mirror-like shine. Add an ashtray, so you can smoke either tobacco or (?)

My dad talked about (B-29, B-50) how a tail skid strike from take off or landing meant that the POC at the event owed a case of beer to the crew.

Excellent & informative as always. Cheers

I love that they installed ash trays

my grandpa was a tail gunner in the b-29 bomber, tried to get more files on his military career tc but my uncle found out that a storage area that had my grandpa files in illinois had burned down and lost the files so my uncle only has a few papers about my grandpa. which is a bummer cause i wanted to learn bout my grandpa because i never got to meet him. he had a heart attack while bringing in groceries,i think my dad was 14 or 16 yrs old when that happened.

Once again, great video! I love this topic!

Wow, this is very enlightening. Definitely subscribing.

Thank you for this great video

Outstanding breakdown!

Very concise. Nicely done!

The absence of tracer is something I did not know prior

Excellent insight. Thank you.

VERY nicely done video

Yes there were a lot of over-claims of enemy fighter kills in WWII, but, due to the restrictions on getting "confirmed" kills, there were a LOT of enemy fighters that went down that were not "confirmed."

Ashtray? Were the crews usually allowed to smoke while in flight? I feel like this would present some kind of hazard with the air bottles and so on, right?

Saburo sakai once said,,attacking a bini yuku at high alt was similar to a cow shaking its tail, one swipe and all the flies disperse,,

Always the awkward question as the B-29 was quite a long range aircraft,what did he do when he wanted to go to the toilet?Most bombers had tail guns up to and including the B-52 , although they removed them at some point,so they must have thought that tail guns were effective and presumably based those thoughts on previous experience.

So if the tail gunner’s area was depressurised during combat could he open his bulkhead to get to the rest of the aircraft? Really interesting video thank you.

Great stuff , keep it up

another great one, thanks....re: ashtray, did I hear that right? Never heard/knew they could smoke, wow.

Well detailed, thank you.

Very cool!

Informative and well explained.

Very informative video great work!!!

Is this in Seattle ? I worked on "T Square 54". She's a grand old lady !

1:05 lol bro is that you? I’ve seen several of your videos now, enjoyed them; but that is the first funny thing I’ve seen. Gj

well done. great report

This plane is at the Museum of Flight in Seattle adjacent to King County Airport (BFI)

A very nice description. I only wish you had provided a link to that report for those of us that would like to read it ourselves.

Another high-grade coverage. Comment, arrows and labeling are much appreciated. Is the B-52's rear gunnery covered? In VN era, a short stream of 20s was fired safely far off-target as warning against a nighttime friendly mock-posing as possible enemy. Rapidly aborted the "fun."

Another fantastic video

Great engineering feat! Don`t know if the problem with engine overheating was ever fully resolved.

Japanese aircraft had great difficulty dealing with the B-29 due to its high speed and high-altitude during daylight attacks. An attack from 12 o'clock was a very fast maneuver that allowed fractions of a second to fire and usually no second chance. An attack from 6 o'clock had a closing speed of perhaps only 50 to 70 mph. Very dangerous for the attacking aircraft. Tail gunners did not get a lot of action in a B-29. Problem was when you lost an engine or two and had to struggle with an altitude loss. Anti-aircraft guns were a bigger threat to the silver fleets. Ranking threats for aircrews were #1 engine failures; #2 anti-aircraft defenses; #3 fuel exhaustion: #4 enemy aircraft: #5 Your own imagination, as you did not want to bail out over Japan.

Now I realize where the "Rosie the riveter" term came from. I had no idea the number of rivets on this bomber! That being said I now have to be come an "umm actually" guy. at ruffly the 2 min mark you referenced a camera port, umm actually there weren't any mounted cameras in bombers in 1942.

( without watching the video ( ungrateful me )) the germans ( who B29 never met ) liked head on attacks or dive in from the sides of the rear of the bomber so to maximize the problem of deflection shooting. ( so the rear gunner would not have a shot ) While this was going on only the gunners on the sides were engaged and having to be skilled. If ANY enemy ended up in the rear of the bomber and pretty stabilized and low on energy you know he be toast the rear gunner had a cannon between the machine guns. So the enemy fighters picked up altitude , then dove down from the side and gathered speed, and totally avoided the rear gunner. BUT, if he was not there, then they would attack from the rear. A situation of "damed if you do and damed if you dont" or in this case "damed if you have a rear gunner or damed if you dont" ( B29 centrally controlled turrets are very interesting, I can understand them dealing with one target but how do they deal with multiple targets?????? )

Great presentation! Can you produce a similar video of the B-17g chin turret... Thanks!

Brilliant video- most realistic feel- as if you were there. !! . Thanks

Excellent video.

I had no idea there was a fire control computer on such an old aircraft

Great video !!! btw, I've read a small number of B-29s still in WW2 had their upper forward turret modified (only that one) by replacing the four M-2s guns with four M-3s, the latest variant that fired at 1,200 rpm. Reports sound be reliable, and also they go further in stating the only US airplanes other than the B-29 to get these super-new machine guns, were P-47N Thunderbolts of the 318th Fighter Group (NOT all of them though) based on Ie Shima from May 1945. Please can anyone confirm with certainty? Thanx from Italy!

Operational analysis shows how fighting was deeply investigated and made fighting a science based on data. Not too far away was the digital revolution in military science.