ball turret
Belly-mounted aircraft blister
A ball turret is a spherical gun enclosure mounted on military aircraft, particularly World War II bombers.
The gunner sat curled inside the rotating sphere, typically positioned on the underside of the fuselage, operating machine guns to defend against enemy fighters.
The cramped, exposed position made it one of the most dangerous crew stations: From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, / And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze (Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner").
- gunnerOne who fires artillery
- bomberExplosive-delivery aircraft or saboteur
- heavy bomberLarge military aircraft for bombing
- B-17Heavy American bomber
- World War IISecond global military conflict
waist · belly · rotating · cramped · tight space · fetal · fetal position · flak · altitude · oxygen · intercom · machine gun · aerial · combat · vulnerable · sphere · hydraulic · bombardier