Cannon Nose Experiments

When a run of-the-mill B-25 went into combat in the Pacific, it carried an assortment of flexible .50-and .30-caliber machine guns in its Plexiglas nose. This was not a heavy-duty punch by any means, but the aircraft’s role was as a medium-altitude bomber. That all changed when Pappy Gunn and his cohorts experimented with heavier weapons. In addition to the eight, forward-firing .50-caliber machine guns that became the trademark of the B-25 strafer, cannon were installed. In spring 1943, one 20mm cannon was installed in the front nose section of a Mitchell. The 20mms had some teething problems early on because their firing trajectories had to be synchronized with those of the nose guns. Instead of giving up, North American Aviation installed a bigger cannon in the B-25G nose in…

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Flight Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, January/February 2024

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