"JJ McIntyre" wrote in message
...
The experience of the Navy when it first seriously acquired and prosecuted
the clandestine electronic surveillance mission along the China Coast and
in
the Black Sea beginning in 1950 and extending through the service life of
the P4M-1Q in 1959 is illustrative. We were damn glad to have forward and
aft twin .50 mounts on the aircraft, despite several operational losses to
hostile fire on the Pacific side. By the time the P4M was supplanted by
the
A3D-1Q(EA-3) and then the WV's (EC121) a decade later, it was indeed a new
ballgame. But in the process of getting there, those of us who did the
deeds by the dark of the moon were grateful as hell we had what we had!

Good point; I had forgotten the armament on the Ferret aircraft that were
used throughout the fifties. Likewise, there is mention of some B-47 (or
were they RB's?) that used their tail guns to good effect against MiGs while
engaging in some sneaky affairs during that same time period.

Brooks


"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...

"Tiger" wrote in message
...
KDR wrote:

Just wondering how come post-WW2 carrierborne torpedo planes such as
Firebrand, AM Mauler, Wyvern were all single-seaters. Only a few years
ago during the WW2, carrierborne torpedo planes required three crews -
pilot, bomber/navigator & radioman/gunner - without exception. What
brought this change?

By the wars end, air gunners were obsolete.

Oddly enough, the USAF still had gunners serving for a number of years
after
WWII.

Most bombers were starting
to delete them to the point that by the time The jet age came, only a
few
heavies had tail guns.

Not quite. The B-29's that went into Korea still carried their guns
(though
their old GE central fire control system computer was not able to
adequately
cope with the more rapid closing speeds of attacking Mig-15's), and the
B-36
had them (lots of them, at 20mm no less). The B-36B had eight twin 20mm
turrets, and was delivered between 1948 and 1950. Likewise, the D model
(with its auxilliary jet engine pods) carried the same armament package,
and
it did not begin showing up in active service until the B's stopped
appearing in 1950. According to what I have available, the removal of
most
of the armament did not take place until the "Featherweight" program
began,
reportedly in 1954 (well into the "jet age"), and even then did not apply
to
the entire B-36 force.

Brooks

By the same token the torpedo bomber was
kind of dead too. By the deleting the 2nd man, you can make a smaller,
faster, plane.