Matrix Games Forums

[&:]

Wow. Need to guess the name of that guy ???

Hard to see anything on this photo.
Is he Sgt Garibaldi manning his dorsal rear firing gun in his SM.79 Sparviero ???
It don't look like a single engine plane, Sgt Garibaldi has too much room, it seems to be a multi engined plane. There's a propeller in front, this may be the one of the nose engine of those Sparvieroes... Only guessing [:D]

This one is Open and it is indeed the dorsal gunner in a SM.79.

However it is not Sgt. Garibaldi... it is his twin brother.

Good lord, I thought he was Tonio !!! It was Michele, too bad, I lost... [&:]
Anyway, for the SM.79, it was a very loose guess from me. The picture is very unusual, and I neer saw it before.
Ah, italians, they are the only ones to pose for such a picture, aren't they ? [:D] (I'm from Italian birth)

Do I understand that correctly? That plane has (open topped too? though maybe there is a closeable canopy I miss in that photo) gunner positions in the engine nacelles? While that sounds like an interesting idea, that post must be quite lonely.

No, it is a 3 engined plane.
The gunner is in the fuselage.

Adapted in 1935 from a civilian airliner, the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (SparrowHawk) bomber saw action in Spain and by June 1940 it constituted over half of Italy’s bomber force. Despite requiring a long runway for takeoff and landing it was an effective and highly durable bomber which saw action throughout the Mediterranean. The SM.79's three 750hp engine gave it a speed of 430kph. Armament was a torpedo or 1,250kg of bombs plus three 12.7mm machine guns mounted above the cockpit firing forward, above the cockpit firing aft and in the ventral position plus two 7.7mm machine guns in the waist.

ORIGINAL: Froonp

No, it is a 3 engined plane.
The gunner is in the fuselage.

Ah, I remembered it as three engined, but that picture was indeed a very odd one (the angle) and I thought they had placed an MG post in both engine nacelles...

Ah, I remembered it as three engined, but that picture was indeed a very odd one (the angle) and I thought they had placed an MG post in both engine nacelles...

Some russian bombers had this design. Some had MG post in engine nacelles under the wings, firing rearward.
The German Me323 even had turrets on the wings.

Some russian bombers had this design. Some had MG post in engine nacelles under the wings, firing rearward. The German Me323 even had turrets on the wings.

Really? Anyone have a picture of that?

I posted a profile of the TB-7/Pe-8 in the post where I said that.
The Americans also tested a strange concept of heavy fighter with 2 engines and front gunners in the nacelles, look !!!
It is the XFM-1.