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Spitfire fitted with the Ace
Maker Giro Gunsight.
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The Ace Maker
Giro Gunsight (pg3 Gun)
Seen under
fitted in a Spitfire
Click to enlarge
The Ace Maker Giro Gunsight (pg3 Gun)
A/M/8B2522
This is probably the rarest RAF WW11
Fighter Gunsight in the world I do not believe another of these gun sites is available for sale anywhere on the
internet except here. The FIRST ever giro gun site fitted to
Spitfires and other wartime Fighters. Called the Ace maker this sight worked out
the deflection for the pilot. Put the X on the target at any
angle and you hit the target. So named because of the rapid
increase of Aces after introduction of this site. An Ace was defined as a pilot who have 5
or more kills. This is a in excellent complete example
supplied in its wooden box. Complete with anti glare shield
which flips up and down as it should.
N/A
Giro Gunsight
Bracket
Click to enlarge
The Above Bracket mounts the
|Giro Gunsight to the Spitfire ,see picture left. If you
look carefully you can make out the bracket at the base of
the sight. This is just as rare a part as the gunsight
itself. It will be available for sale as soon as I can get
some repo's made. |
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RAREST PART
ON THE SITE
Thought to be
one of only four still in existence
The AGLT
Village Inn FN 150 tail turret as fitted on a Lancaster
Village Inn.
Mk11 Giro Gunsight with Cathode Ray tube Attached mounted in
a Lancaster Rear Turret
Village Inn
Cathode Ray tube
£2000
Picture's displayed with the kind permission of Ben Brown
of
A formerly AGLT equipped
Boulton Paul D type turret.
This turret is currently on display at the Sywell
Aviation Museum and is under restoration.
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Village Inn Cathode Ray tube (pg3 gun)
A
extremely rare cathode ray tube mounted in the rear turret
next to the Mk 11 Giro Gunsight see under. Only a very
limited number (less than 100) were ever fitted. I
believe this to be one of only four left in the world making
it this sites current rarest WW11 part.
Village Inn
was the codename for the British Airborne Gun in Turrets
(AGLT) radar-aimed gun turret fitted to some Lancaster
bombers in 1944
The AGLT system was devised to
allow a target to be tracked and
fired-on in total darkness, the target's range being
accurately computed as well as allowing for lead and bullet
drop.
The system was devised by a team led
by Dr P.I. Dee and designed under the aegis of Chief
Designer Dr Alan Hodgkin, after receiving a request from the
Air Ministry for such a system in early 1943. It worked on a
wavelength of 9.1 cm with a pulse frequency of 660 per
second.
The system consisted of a
transmitter/receiver unit mounted in the navigator's
compartment and included an automatic ranging facility which
relayed range information into the
Computer section of a Mark IIC gyro gunsight.
The turret featured a small scanning aerial that followed
the movement of the guns, and a
Cathode ray tube(CRT) display screen positioned adjacent to
the gun sight, the image of which was projected on to
the gun sight reflector screen via a semi-transparent
mirror.
To use, the gunner manoeuvred his
turret until the target blip projected onto the sight
reflector screen coincided with the normal gyro sight aiming
graticule, at which the point the guns would be correctly
aimed, the inbuilt characteristics of the gyro sight
almost guaranteeing a hit
should the gunner subsequently open fire.
Initially, ranging information was
provided only at the transmitter situated in the navigator's
compartment and was read-off to the gunner over the intercom
the gunner using foot pedals to set the target range on the
sight, however, in production equipment the process was made
automatic, the range information being fed electronically
directly into the sight, with the navigator's "running
commentary" only being retained for the benefit of the rest
of the crew.
Village Inn was evaluated and tested
by the Telecommunications research establishment at RAF
Defford using the Lancaster Mark I ND712 and the
Lancaster Mark IIIs JB705 and LL737 and
subsequently put into production.
A formerly AGLT equipped Boulton
Paul D type turret
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Click on pictures to enlarge
Lancaster Z Friendly Fire Equipment
boxed (pg3 gun)
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Lancaster Z Friendly Fire Equipment (pg3 gun)
Top secret Z equipment an early attempt to combat
friendly fire. This particular piece was fitted to the bar
in the rear Turret of Lancaster's which also mounted the
Giro Ace maker Gunsight and if fitted the Village Inn
Cathode ray tube. It faced backwards through the turret and
picked up a beam from a following friendly aircraft in the
Bomber stream. This was late war technology and got into
production in very limited numbers. Lanc's fitted with this
projected a beam forward, when picked up by the Z equipment
shown the guns would be disabled and prevent friendly
fire in the dark. A very rare piece for the serious Gunsight
collector.
£375
Lancaster Z Friendly Fire Equipment boxed (pg3 gun
Here we have a mint boxed version of the Z Friendly fire
equipment.
£455
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£980
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The Ace Maker Giro Gunsight Bomber type(pg3 Gun)
A/M/8B3235
Click on the
pictures of gunsight to enlarge
This is the bomber version of
the Ace Maker Giro gunsight. This was used with the village
Inn system to to kill awesome kill rates. Enemy fighters
were 90% certain to receive hits from the rear turret.
This technology was never used in large numbers as it came
into use late in the war. The main difference from the
fighter type was the turret fitting on the base and the
removal of the anti glare screen as this was never required
if Village Inn was fitted. This sight comes supplied in a
strong wooden box. A very rare piece in good condition. A
unique piece and even harder to find than the Fighter type.
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Bristol
Blenheim with ventral Turret fitted under the nose
click on pictures to enlarge
Lancaster with ventral Turret fitted behind the bomb
bay click on pictures to enlarge
Halifax
with a Boulton Paul type R ventral Turret fitted behind the
bomb bay click on pictures to enlarge
Boulton Paul type R ventral
Turret
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Ventral Turret Periscope Gunsight (pg3 Gun)
This is a periscope gunsight
for a Ventral turret. These turrets were used in a variety
of aircraft in very limited numbers including the Blenheim,
Wellington, Hampton, Stirling. Halifax and early Lancaster's. Its very light weight
and in superb condition the optics are of exceptional
quality and work well. The ventral position was soon deleted
on most RAF Lancaster's as it was thought unnecessary and
took the same position as the H2S radome. Where possible,
and unofficially, many crews installed a single 7.7 mm
(0.303 in) or 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Browning machine-gun on
aircraft lacking the ventral turret in order to deal with
the ever increasing 'behind and below' attacks of German
night fighters using Schräge Musik, which interesting, did
not use tracer ammunition. These were hastily installed
configurations usually consisting of the gunner sitting on a
bicycle type seat with the ammunition box being bolted to
the floor and the gun mounted in a hole cut into the floor.
The British would eventually re-introduce the F.N.64 turret
on aircraft equipped with G-H radar (an improved version of
Gee) since that type of radar did not have the large radome
as the H2S required. During 1943/1944 when the use of
Schräge Musik on German Nachtjagd (night fighters) became
widespread, the new twin-gun F.N.64 power-operated turrets
became the most important gun position on the bomber.
By its nature this is was a
rare piece when in use and therefore probably unique now. I
do not know of an aircraft any where in the world still in
existence that has this type of turret fitted. It comes in
its original box and this weighs allot, if you want it sent
without its box to save postage I am happy to do this. The
actual periscope is very light. The information was
provided by a member of the Stirling rebuild project group
and confirmed by an independent member of a Lancaster
restoration project.
£880
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Click on the
picture's to enlarge
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Village Inn Cathode Ray tube 2 (pg3 gun) Yes
its another cathode Ray tube. This one is just the shell but
gives you a unique opportunity to purchase he rarest of
aviation collectables. The tube at the bottom is plastic and not
original it has been added for effect. The top lens holder
is 100% original and in very good condition.
£799
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click on the
picture's to enlarge
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Giro Gunsight control box (pg3 gun)
This is very nice original
control box for the MKII Giro gunsights displayed on these
pages. Used by both the bomber and Fighter type sight's.
£75
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Click on the
picture's to enlarge
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Giro Gunsight Range control (pg3 gun)
A very nice Giro Gunsight
range control for the MkII Ace maker. This is fitted
in the cockpits of Spitfire's and other aircraft fitted with
the ace maker giro gunsight. The range control is wired to
the gunsight range control. It was attached by a cable to a
twist grip I believe was mounted on the throttle grip to
allow the pilot to adjusts the range of the gunsight without
removing his had from the throttle.
£75
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Click on the
picture's to enlarge
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Visual radar receiver tube Village Inn (pg3 gun)
AM
10Q/1475
This is another totally
unique item. It comes in its original box stamped as Village
Inn. Superb condition this mega rare find is Visual display
tube which was fitted in a case in the navigators position.
This displayed the position of the incoming fighter to the
Radio operator presumably to allow him to warn the pilot and
other members of the crew of an incoming fighter. It was
connected to the Village Inns radar dish. This tube was also
fitted in Mosquito and Beaufighter night fighters with radar
for detecting enemy aircraft. You see it below to the right
of the cockpit.
£299
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Main Junction Box Village Inn (pg3 gun)
Click on the
picture's to enlarge them
This is another rare Village Inn
part. Its the main junction box fitted with the turret.
Nicely marked with the air ministry crown.
Click on
the picture's to enlarge them
£275
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Radar connector Village Inn (pg3 gun)
Click on the
picture's to enlarge them
This is another rare Village Inn
part. Its the radar connector which plugged into the radar
dish at the rear of the turret.
£275
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Ace maker Giro Gunsight recorder (pg3 gun)
Click on
the picture's to enlarge them
This fits to the top of
the hood on the Bomber variant of the MkII Ace maker giro
gunsight see below. The film loads into this cartridge and
it records the pictures from the gun camera.
Recorder only
£125
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Click on the
picture's to enlarge
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HIGH VOLTAGE Z TURRET CONTROL BOX(pg3 gun)
CONTROL BOX FOR
SENSITIVITY AND RANGE FOR "Z" IFF
TRANSMITTER FITTED TO REAR OF LANCASTER AIRCRAFT. THIS
CONTROLLED THE HIGH VOLTAGE Z TUBE
FITTED (listed above) IN
LATE 1944 FN120 AND FN82 GUN TURRETS. THE "Z" TUBE WOULD
DETECT THE TWO INFRA-RED PROJECTOR LIGHTS FITTED TO
BOMB-AIMERS BLISTER OF LANCASTER BOMBERS. WHEN DETECTED THIS
WOULD LOCK THE FIRING MECHANISM OF THE
TURRET, PREVENTING FIRING INTO FRIENDLY BOMBERS.
MARKED WITH MILITARY BROAD ARROW. THIS WAS REMOVED FROM AN
FN82 REAR GUN TURRET OF LANCASTER RT 686. GOOD CONDITION.
MEASURES 5" X 3.5" X 2.5"
£125
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