Operating ball turret in the Collings B-24J at Bomber Camp 

My father was a belly gunner in a B-24 Liberator durring WW2. He survived 54 bombing missions. He turns 91 this week. A true American hero.

I always found the ball turrets to be mechanically fascinating, quite a feat in engineering

huge shoutout to the cameraman for not falling off the plane

I feel like the motto behind American planes in WW2 was "How many .50 cals can we slap on this thing?"

This is incredible. My grandpa was a ball turret gunner on a B24, 15th AF, 484th, 824 Bombardment Squadron. His plane was shot down during his 17th mission after bombing Vienna on 21 Feb 1945. The 10-man crew bailed out and were captured by the Germans. He was a POW until liberated by Patton’s 3rd Army on 29 Apr 45. I was too young to appreciate his stories, but I remember many of them. They were real heroes.

The amount of courage needed to operate this in combat is impossible to be measured. True heros. Respect.

My father was a ball turret gunner in a B-24 in World War 2. Wish he could have been around to see this airplane and perhaps take a ride in it if he was of a mind to. He really didn't like to fly after he came home. They were all white knuckle trips for him. This from a man who was Oregon's youngest licensed pilot in the 1930s and who couldn't get enough flying before the war. Great video. Thanks very much!

Now we need a gunner's eye view.

"From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose." - Randall Jarrell's 'The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner My dad was a B-24 pilot in WWII. This poem and "High Flight" are the only two I ever heard him recite completly from memory. He passed in 93. All of these guys had "balls of steel".

Just look at those monster radial engines, going on *70* years old... and not a wisp of smoke at cruise, or even idle. *That* takes a whole lot of love and diligence and no-excuses competence on the part of these preservationists. SALUTE!

Very cool camera angle! Great video!

Awesome, I sure am glad someone cared enough to save these old warbirds. Great to see the turret up and running.

The turret was retractable only on the B-24 because of the very limited ground clearance of the that the Liberator had. There was plenty of room for the ball turret on the B-17 so it didn't need to be retracted. For the gunner to get in the ball turret the guns had to be pointed straight down which allowed the hatch to be accessed from inside the aircraft since the hatch is on the opposite side of the turret than the guns. On both the B-17 and the B-24 the guns cannot be pointed straight down when the aircraft is on the ground so the gunner really cant get in the ball turret from inside the aircraft unless it is flying. The hatch is accessible on the B-17 on the ground from the outside when the guns are horizontal as can be seen in many wartime photos. The gunner could in theory bail out of the ball turret in flight if he wore his parachute while in the turret and he could have the guns horizontal in flight. It seemed like the normal procedure was for the gunner to keep is quick attachable chest pack parachute stowed inside the aircraft near the turret in case he had to bail out. If the turret became jammed at any position of the guns outside of nearly straight down then the hatch would be blocked by the turret ring structure and the airframe thus trapping him inside. There were manual cranks both inside the turret for the gunner and outside for the crew to crank the turret in azimuth and elevation. I would like to hear any stories of a ball turret gunner bailing directly out of his ball turret as I have not come across any evidence of this happening but I am sure it must have happened sometime. Check out my other videos of the view from inside the ball turret on the Collings B-17G

My grandfather was a ball turret gunner on the maiden warrior of the 454th.The stories he would tell me would give me goose bumps. They dropped allot of bombs.

that looks already scary as it is. Now think about doing that in a flak field while flying wing to wing beside other bombers and with dozens of enemy fighters strafing you. For fuck sake that is hell

Saying a little prayer for the young men who endured real hell in these warbirds so that we all could live as we do. Thanks to all who serve and have served!!!

I love the fact these planes are restored and still flying. Makes me want to be part of the crew just so I could keep up with it.

Great video. I have seen the Collins B-24 in Huntsville, Al. My uncle was a tail gunner on a B-24, he and his crew were all killed on a mission to bomb Ploesti on July 15, 1944. Their bomber was shot in half by flak, they had no chance. I have great respect for the men who flew during World War 2. Thank you.

Gimme 3000 rounds of Ammo and fly over my ex's house.

A great video! I flew on this aircraft about 12 years ago, and had an unforgettable experience-however, seeing the ball turret in operation is awesome! Thank you Collings Foundation!

*Me going to bomber camp after playing war thunder:* JUST LIKE THE SIMULATIONS

Although I’m not a real war historian, the photography captures an amazing perspective. What an engineering accomplishment almost 80 years ago!! Thanks for posting this fascinating look 👍

As a kid growing up in the 1960s, I remember people buying WW2 surplus ammo, .30 caliber--belted for machine-gun use--in the original rugged and waterproof green ammo cans. This was pre-NATO so it was identical dimensions to the .30-06 civilian rifle cartridge. You could just slide them out of the cloth belt, and into your bolt-action deer rifle... or surplus (never issued!) M1 Garand! IIRC the tracer every 5th round was already removed--don't want to start the woods on fire. But one "odd" neighbor had a couple cans of belted *.50 cal* ammo, all metal-linked... but nothing to shoot it in. I remember how *huge* the rounds were in my then-tiny hands. He was aware of the 1934 NFA, but his theory was that US factories had cranked out SO DANG MANY of the "Ma Deuces" that he was bound to find one, "lying around somewhere"... and who knows, maybe he did... lol...

Whenever i saw tie fighter in star wars movie. I always remember the ball turret gunner. Salute to the men who operate this during WW2. A BIG THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Tie Fighter the humble beginning

This is absolutely awesome and the coolest use of a GoPro camera I've ever seen. Gives one a different perspective of what ball turret gunners went through as we watch from the outside & underside.

Amazing! I could not imagine how cramped it was for the gunner to be inside that ball.

My Grandafther, may he rest in peace, served as a B-24 ball turret gunner with the 459th bomb group based at Coffee Tower, Guilia Field in Cerignola, Italy. He survived 32 missions. I have his air service medal with silver oakleaf cluster. He had some amazing but horriffic stories to tell...

This may be the coolest thing ever! I didn't know that the ball retracted into the plane fuse. Now I was to see the same thing on a B-17!

I got to fly in this exact plane(the witchcraft). The ball gun was not in use but in the waist gun bay you could stick your head out plane, by far the coolest thing I've ever done.Thanks pappy for letting me ride in ur bird.

TIE Fighter...anyone?....knew it looked familiar...

Very nice! Thanks for posting this. My father was Flight Engineer / Top-Turret Gunner on B24s out of Seething (Sta. 146) 1943-44, and flew 32+ missions, Sq 712 lead crew with radar.

Fun fact: being a ball turret gunner in WW2 is one of the most dangerous jobs in history

Awesome! My brother-in-law's Father piloted a B-24 in the Pacific in WW II. He passed away last fall. John R. was a great guy and I was luck and proud to know him!

Nice camera work. But it would have been nice to have a camera inside looking outward

Some time ago I had the honor to talk to Wilber Richardson, a WW2 ball gunner. Great guy with a lot of trigger time including D-Day. Well after talking for a bit somehow going to the bathroom came up, he said do your business before you fly cause there could be an 8 or 12 hour flight coming up. He did eventually say hey If you had to go, while cramped on the ball, you just went, no shame in it cause everybody did it. We both got a chuckel, God bless him.

My cousin was in 512th squadron of 376th Bomb Group. He was in Yugoslavian Royal detachment and he was pilot on B-24D. He was a crew member on B24 42-73085 #20 when it collided in mid air with B24 44-40502 #31 after a mission to Lobau in Austria (US B-24 #31 was badly dmg by flack). He died on August 22nd 1944. In that collision only 2 members of 2 crews survived, from Yugo B-24 # 20 was 2nd Lt.Vojin Stojkovic, and one from US B-24 #31 unfortunate i dont know his name... His name was Blagoje Radosavljevic and he was Cap. 1st class and pilot of that Liberator... This was crew of that Liberator die on that day: Cap. 1st class Blagoje Radosavljević Cap. 1st class Borivoje Vulić Cap. 2nd class Slobodan Pavlović Lt. Vuko Šijaković 2nd Lt. Obrad Crvenković 2nd Lt Boris Parapatić 2nd Lt Toma Živanović Ssgt. Milutin Bobek Sgt. Emil Trampuš

Sending this to a WWII veteran whose brother was a copilot in a B-24 and was one of the many who never came home.

If you want to actually fly in a powered up ball turret in a real B-17G or a B-24J you can do just that and tons more at Bomber Camp in California. Check out www.bombercamp.org or bomber camp on facebook. Come on out and be a part of "Battle of the Bombers" for a great living history event like no other. You can shoot a full auto 50 cal from the waist window and drop a bomb with the famous Norden bomb sight. Not only that but experience an action packed camp using all of the equipment from WWII. You can even fly in a P-51, B-25, BT-13, AT-6 or C-45 and come along on the missions and see both bombers shoot and drop from one of the best seats in the house. Just google Bomber Camp for more information photos and videos or try bombercamp.org to sign up. Enlistments start at $1400 and up for the day. Come and see why so many previous campers keep coming back each year. If you could, please help us to spread the word about Bomber Camp so we can keep this living history alive.

I sat in this same aircraft in Omaha. A crew seating bench facing rearward. Hefty safety belts. Got chills. Dad was a ball gunner. 8th AF, 487 bg, 839 bs. Bless the folks keeping the warbirds flying.

A great view and great editing you didn't waste time either. Thank you for no music because the engines and the slipstream WAS the music.

Absolutely brilliant camera angles...and colours well worth the effort...and for those gunners too what balls...others can move around the aircraft...but this person...no stays put...courage...l salute you...we 👍

id pay 150$ to ride in a ball turret in the air

I could never have been a ball turret gunner. God Bless all that took on that roll.

I kept waiting to see the Gunnars view and it never came. Would love to see from the inside looking out as he rotated to get a feel for how they lived and died in those coffins. My Dad was a Bomber Mechanic in WWII and cleaned out a lot of airplanes after they landed. He said that was not something he enjoyed remembering.

Richard Marion Otto, my father in law did this job . I have a list of his missions. Cant imagine operating 2 50 caliber machine guns while under fire, sitting inside a ball turret. The balls on these men!

#BestSelfieStick

Wow, awesome video! I always wondered what it looked like under the belly of a B-24 or B-17 in the ball turret at 20,000+ feet. I'm sure this was lower but still. Man, those guys had "guts" to do what they did with flak and fighters all around. We owe them a lot forever. Thanks for posting!

seriously, how can anybody dislike this?

The B-24j Liberator is such a beautiful plane. The Witchcraft is by far my favorite B-24.

Did anyone else think of a tie fighter when they saw this?

Fantastic! I can't imagine being back then and having to actually defend this aircraft without this. A camera view from inside would be fabulous.

Amazingly cool effect. Great video.

Amazing they have restored the aircraft to have an operating ball turret. It kind of resembles a TIE fighter cockpit, or even a space pod from 2001.

Its too bad we didn't get some glimpses of the gunners birds eye view as well.

Sweet. My uncle Willis Steburg, was in the 8th Air force during WW2. He was a ball turret gun on b-24's. He had 2 kills to his credit before he was shot down over France in 1944. He survived the downing, but spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. He passed away in 1980.

I would not want to sit in it, people shooting at me or not. It took tons of GUTS for those fly boys to volunteer for this. Salute!

Therapist: Wheatley with a gun isn’t real he can’t hurt you. Wheatley with a gun:

Ladies and gentlemen, what you have witnessed here today was a plane going through puberty and its ball dropping. XD

Flew on the WitchCraft 12 yrs ago...Surviving 54 missions-Wow! We owe them so much, keep em flying!!!!

If only they had go pros in WW2.

Ball turret gunners also took photos after bombs were released . . . my Dad flew out of Torino, Italy . . . 461st Bomber Group . . . his plane was shot down Aug, 1944 . . . spent the remainder of war in Stalag 4 . . . they were truly the "greatest generation" . . .

Love this sound !

This is the coolest thing I've ever seen, even though this thing is 70 years old!

2:29 me need cookie (look in one of the windows)

That was super cool,best $25 I ever spent was for a tour of their B-17 and the '24.A must for all history buffs.

Amazing....

My dad was a ball turret gunner on a B 24 (Cherokee Maiden) out of Foggia Italy during WWII. They made 50 missions and no one even got a scratch. They did take an anti aircraft shell through the wing and up another 100ft. before it expldoded. When they got back the repair guy said, had it been a foot in any direction and they would have lost the wing. I was named after the pilot (Dean Buck Buchannan) very proud of that fact. I took a ride on the Dragon and his Tale out of Santa Barbara in 2003. What a trip. I asked about getting in the bottom turret and the guy said it's too dangerous and besides I'd never fit. at 6'3 & 225lbs. My dad was 6'3 but only 150. I actually talked to the nose gunner of his bomber and he said they never figured out how he got in there. My sincere thanks to all the brave men and women of that era. They deserve it.

The ball looks like the thing from portal

"BZ" Loved every moment of this video. It gave me a perspective of the brave young men who manned those guns of long ago. We should never forget their sacrifice. My hat is off to you.

Here i am wasting 15 minutes of my life looking at balls rotating..

Awesome video. Puts things in perspective. Can't even imagine what it would be like sitting in there and fending for your life as bullets rained.

Awesome HD, fascinating to see. I just don't care for the 'greatest generation' crap. Let's remember that most Americans were opposed to entering that war and wanted nothing to do with it until Pearl Harbor. As far as the soldiers, I think we have just as many courageous Americans today as then, and had just as many during the Vietnam war too - those poor guys got sacrificed in an unwinnable war started by a bunch of arrogant armchair generals. I'd say the same about the Bush/Cheney war too - dragging on for ten years for what? For nothing.

This video is very impressive and well made. It must have been horrendous to have been a gunner suspended in one of these turrets. It makes us all appreciate the huge sacrifice Air Personnel made in WW2.

Cod 3 memories anyone? ( ww2 cod 3)

That bomb bay opening a 8:22 was unexpected but cool to see.

Lose hydraulics and you're stuck in that thing

this guy is having the best view in the entire plane,i flew in witchcraft in the bombardier section on the nose and even i have a blast view i didn't have the 360' view his getting ,a woundefull foundation to be part off great job guys keep these extraordinary machines flying high

Anyone here from CoD WWII? :]

The fact that people didnt like this video should be none of our business-great video!

b24 flying coffin

Mad respect for anyone who sat in one of those, not only were they the first thing on the plane to be shot at, any damage to it pretty much guaranteed it would become a coffin.

I salute to all the great men who served as ball turret gunners

My grandfather was a waist gunner on a Bristol-Blenheim Mk.1 in the RAF(Romanian Air Forces). He was only 19 at that time but now he's a retired 85 year old General.

This has to be the single most exciting footage I have seen in my entire life!!!!

My grandfather flew 22 missions in that ball he was wounded twice by flak. One thru his left lung. 443rd BG Tommy Francis Moody, came home alive in 45.

... timeless and priceless views that NO ONE has ever seen before. EVER ~ Kudos from all the future aviation buffs who are not even born yet . THANK YOU !

A true hero because a ball turret is a really hard, dangerous, and big job,

My uncle was a ball turret gunner on B-24D "Our Belle" They were shot down over Budapest Hungary in 1944 and he did not survive. He was 22. I flew in this B-24 "Witchcraft" in 2012 at Melbourne Fl. to honor his memory.

Thank you for this video. I can ONLY imagine the courage, grace and patriotism the men that DID this job posessed. I hope we never again have to ask these kinds of men and women to DO these jobs

Incredible view. The camera stabilized on the gun barrel while the aircraft continues to shake, rattle and roll.

If I remember correctly, the extended turret on the B-24 caused handling problems, and the turret was often removed from planes in the Southwest Pacific theater, replaced with hand-held guns. Presumably, the fighter threat wasn't as bad in that theater, so the turret could be dispensed with, and the reduced weight & drag increased range.

The planes look so stable and solid..then u realise they could explode in a second. Respect and RIP.

Well, this is definitely my new favorite video on RU-vid. I didn't think in these "we can't do that because of the insurance, or it's too dangerous" times we live in, they would let anyone get in and operate a ball turret like this. Bravo.

Great video. My dad flew in the ball turret in WW2.Cramped and scary when it dropped out of the plane for the first time. But a great view. Dad said you had a great view of tracer coming up at you on anti shipping missions in the pacific, but statistically the safest part of the plane to be in combat.

My Dad was a ball turret gunner in WWII stationed in Italy with the 449th Bomb Group.. He is still alive and so proud of his service!

The ball was retracted which gave the B-24 more range than the B-17, it was faster and carried a heavier bomb load than the B-17. It's problem was that is was very heavy on the controls and pilot's could not keep it in tight formation during attacks so it was more of a sitting suck for the Germans hence a higher loss rate. ALL these men were brave beyond words!

Now that was neat, plain and simple. Thank you for getting that put up for us to see.

Great video! Looked like somthing out of a Star Wars movie! Amazing turret, brave men, must have been scary as he could probably see flak damage better than rest of crew! Could also see bombs leaving the bay, which must have boosted morale...Awesome B24, that left main gear took a long time to come down! Tidy looking landing.

at least one of the best videos I've ever seen to give a functional and an emotional view from the outside of the tiny ball-grave.