li-2 gunner

[kriegsmarine221]

the lisunov li-2 was armed with 2 light machineguns in waist positions and 1 heavy machinegun in the dorsal position. and strangely one gun in the nose. the li-2 or c-47 never had any glass nose in the front and the length of the barrel protruding from the nose didnt allow for much moving of the gun. how could the nose gunner possibly aim with such a low field of fire and HOW ON EARTH COULD HE AIM IT WITH NO VISION AT ALL OF THE ENEMY?

[Ome_Joop]

The Li-2's i have seen (RA-01300 and Goldtimer Foundation Li-2 HA-LIX) didn't have any guns at all but just googles a bit:

A number of Li-2s were armed with up to three machine guns, one in a manually powered dorsal turret that could be armed with either a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun, while two more guns could be mounted in windows positioned behind the cargo door. The armed version of the Li-2 was sometimes used as a night bomber, carrying 4,000lb of bombs below the wing centre section or rockets under the outer wings.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/we ... _li-2.html

http://www.douglasdc3.com/li2/li2.htm

All other websites i looked don't mention the nose gun either so i guess there was none?!

BTW what happened to RA-01300 as HA-LIX supossedly is the last flying Li-2?

[Ironmachine]

But then:

From July 1941, the existing PS-84 fleet was gradually upgraded to an armed configuration; the armament cut into performance and payload, but it was far better than being shot down in flames. A few Luftwaffe pilots were shot down when they pounced on an "easy kill" without realizing that it could fight back; their surviving brethren became more cautious in their attacks on the PS-84. By August 1941, new-build PS-84s were rolling off the production line fitted with armament from the start. The initial armament configuration was an MV-3 turret with a 7.62 millimeter (0.30 caliber) ShKAS machine gun.
Armament was quickly improved by adding two DA machine guns of similar caliber in the fuselage positions, as well as a ShKAS gun fitted in a fixed position in the nose -- not surprisingly the nose gun was almost useless, and was later deleted. The armament was later upgraded to a UTK-1 turret with a UBT 12.7 millimeter (0.50 caliber) machine gun, with the beam positions fitted with ShKAS instead of DA machine guns. Both the ShKAS and DA fired the same 7.62 millimeter round, but the ShKAS had a substantially greater rate of fire. Sometimes additional machine guns were installed in windows in the field.

http://www.vectorsite.net/avc47_2.html#m3

This seems to be the answer to the original question. The gun was not aimed at all, it simply fired to the front.

[kriegsmarine221]

well fitting that gun was a bit short sighted wasnt it?

[kriegsmarine221]

and whos job was it to fire the gun? did the pilot fire it from his controls or was there a specified nose gunner?

[Ironmachine]

That I do not know, but it would have been quite a waste of manpower to put a dedicated nose gunner to fire a gun that could not be aimed, so I suppose it would have been the pilot.

[kriegsmarine221]

they had a gunsight in the cockpit? hmm. the gun could be used for strafing runs i suppose.

[Ome_Joop]

they had a gunsight in the cockpit? hmm. the gun could be used for strafing runs i suppose.

I think they just put a cross on the windscreen with a marker or just sticked a piece chewing gum at it .

[kriegsmarine221]

they had markers and chewing gun back then? and they mustve went to a lot of trouble attaching the trigger of the gun to the pilots controls. or did they just tie a string to the trigger?

[Cantankerous]

The Li-2's i have seen (RA-01300 and Goldtimer Foundation Li-2 HA-LIX) didn't have any guns at all but just googles a bit:

A number of Li-2s were armed with up to three machine guns, one in a manually powered dorsal turret that could be armed with either a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun, while two more guns could be mounted in windows positioned behind the cargo door. The armed version of the Li-2 was sometimes used as a night bomber, carrying 4,000lb of bombs below the wing centre section or rockets under the outer wings.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/we ... _li-2.html

http://www.douglasdc3.com/li2/li2.htm

All other websites i looked don't mention the nose gun either so i guess there was none?!

BTW what happened to RA-01300 as HA-LIX supossedly is the last flying Li-2?

The Li-2 with civil registration RA-01300 was destroyed in an accident on June 26, 2004.