ARMAMENT TRAINING [Main Title]

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  • Title: ARMAMENT TRAINING [Main Title]
  • Film Number: AMY 144
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An instructional film for air gunners using fixed sights. The basic principles of fixed sight gunnery are explained. Precise shooting in the air requires judgement, experience and constant training. The animated diagrams are a major feature of this film, supplemented with a comprehensive narrative.
  • Description: Reel 1: “Fixed gun sights (ring sights)” - Film opens with several biplanes circling around each other. The air-gunner fires from an aircraft that is moving rapidly, the target is seldom, if ever, stationary. Its range, speed, direction, angle of approach and retreat are always changing and are difficult to foretell. Cut to biplane approaching to attack. Everyone is familiar with shooting on the ground. Cut to firing range; targets at different distances from the fixed gun show the bullet although fired horizontally, falls well below the target at 800 yards, due to the effect of gravity. The back-sight is raised so the trajectory of the bullets is higher than the line of sight. Cut to the biplane. Fixed guns are mounted in the fore and aft axes of the aircraft, the target distance set to 200 yards. The biplane takes off and flies behind the target on the same line of sight. If the target approaches at an angle – view of ring gunsight – the gunner will miss because the bullet will fly past the target since it has flown on. The gunner needs to fire ahead of the target; the axis of the gun barrel must be deflected to the line of sight. This is the angle of deflection. The angle of deflection is calculated by making certain assumptions, and the dimensions of the circular ring on the gunsight is determined by simple trigonometry; this is explained in detail with reference to a series of animated diagrams. Reel 2: This part of the film concentrates on the design and use of the ring sight. The principle of the ring sight is explained. For targets not approaching at right angles to the gun, the circular ring needs to rotate; in practise it cannot rotate so the pilot must imagine a series of great circles (the diameter of the ring) forming a sphere. A bead, mounted on a standard, enables the gunner to position his line of view through the centre of the ring. An explanation is given which can only be understood whilst viewing a series of animated diagrams. The design is relatively simple; an example of a picture is worth a thousand words, even more when it is animated. Reel three: "Harmonisation" - The standard range for harmonisation is 200 yards; the trajectory of the bullet meets the target at 200 yards, no allowance is made for the gravity drop of the bullet. For aircraft with two (or more) guns their trajectories must meet at 200 yards. Cut to a Bulldog aircraft (K1648) tail raised on jacks so the gun barrel and the aircraft axes are horizontal and point towards a target bull’s-eye painted on a hanger door, 200 yards away (or a greater distance if so requested by the pilot/gunner.) A bore inspection mirror (a periscope) is used to centre the gun barrel on the bull’s-eye by adjusting the tailplane height. “Checking the sights”: Pilot performs a rigorous programme of aerobatics which can subsequently upset the harmonisation. The pilot lands and proceeds to check the harmonisation himself. View of aircraft ((K3834), pilot using the bore inspection mirror, the ground crew making the required adjustments. Film ends as the pilot walks away, confident that his aircraft and guns are now correctly aligned and harmonised.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: AMY 144
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1935
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: ROYAL AIR FORCE (Production sponsor) Gee Films (Production company)
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  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    AMY 144

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