Top Turret and Flight Engineer's Area

Here, I’m on my knees in the front access area, looking aft and up into the top gun turret and flight engineer's area. Immediately above me is the pilots' cockpit. Combined, the cockpit along with the top turret and flight engineer's area are called the flight deck. Not seen here is the flight engineer's small fold-up seat, which is located immediately behind the copilot.

The flight engineer had a working knowledge of all the aircraft's systems and was capable of servicing the airframe and engines. He was also an armorer, with detailed knowledge of the aircraft’s guns and bomb racks. During engine start, run-up and takeoff, the flight engineer stood behind the pilots and monitored the fuel and engine gauges.

The base of the powered rotating top turret is seen immediately above the aluminum stepladder. The perforated vertical compartments on either side are the ammo boxes for the top turret's twin .50 Cal. machine guns. Some of the ammo feeds are also seen along with the control yoke (small bicycle-style twist grips) used for controlling the guns. The left grip incorporates the gun trigger while the right grip controls the rangefinder for the gun sight. Pushing or pulling the grips up or down moved the guns up or down. The top turret gunner, usually the flight engineer, would stand on the base while operating the twin guns. The entire turret, including the base, gunner, guns, ammo boxes and Plexiglas bubble rotate 360 degrees in unison.

Immediately beyond the turret is the bulkhead door leading to the bomb bay. The bright light at the bottom center of the bulkhead door is the door leading from the aft end of the bomb bay to the radio operator's room. Quarters are extremely tight, especially if one is wearing any gear such as a parachute.