Howard Austin wrote:
John Kunkel wrote:
Is this Hollywood or did the firing of the guns carry through to
the controls and cause stick shake as the movies depict?

FWIW, Robert S. Johnson (well, Martin Caidin in RSJ's name*)
claimed that on the occasion of his first kill, the noise of all 8
of
the Jug's fifties firing together scared (or at least startled) him
to
the point that he let go of the trigger. Up 'til that point, he'd
only
fired one at a time, at towed socks.

*note that Johnson left that part of the tale in when he revised
and re-released Thunderbolt!
Jeff

I can't imagine that, while firing all eight of those .50's in a
P-47, that the whole plane wasn't shaking....much less just the
stick. Anybody with shooting experience in that plane care to detail
their experience?
Dave

Never flew the P-47 but firing the six guns in the Mustang created a
lot of noise but little if any vibration. Certainly didn't shake the
stick.


I suppose it's quite difficult to portray vibration that can only be felt,
without resorting to subtitles.

One piece I read was of a Lancaster pilot who said that on full revs as the
Lanc' lurched forward at the start of its take-off run, the control column
felt like you were holding a hive full of angry bees.

Richard.