Airfix MG Magnette

[NARSES2]

Dad served as the gunner on a couple of those 2pdr Pom-Poms. Moved onto 20mm's when he went to the pacific. he prefered the 20mm because he said you could see where the bullets went 

[Captain Canada]

Nice one Chris ! Always like little tidbits like that.

[zenrat]

Just how quick firing were these 2 pounders and on the 4 and 8 gun mounts did they all fire simultaneously, consecutively or in pairs/fours?

Edit:  Wiki tells me the rate of fire was 115 or 200 rpm depending on the mark but nothing about firing order.  Is that rate fast enough that they'd just all bang off together?

[Weaver]

Well that was interesting: I always thought pom-poms fired in synched pairs, but I've just been watching some footage on youtube and it seems they didn't:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KsXYK_CNoQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDVNCS-mJSc

[Captain Canada]

Cool vids. Especially the second one !

[PR19_Kit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDVNCS-mJSc

Ooooh, Sea Hornets and Firebrands (beauty and the beast?) flying from HMS Centaur! 

I always liked the US Navy's 1.1" twin mounts with the big recoil springs, they always seem to fire alternately.

[NARSES2]

Dad said they were called Pom-Poms, because they went pom..pom..pom, and the way he said it, it was probably about 90 poms per minute (amazing how things stick in your mind, but Dad's navy tales always did). Now as he never manned a single Pom Pom, I've always assumed that was a twin ?

I've always wondered about stated rounds per minute and achieved rates over some of the periods they were in action in the Med, Arctic and Pacific when under sustained attack ? Dad always said (another one  ) that US ships put up a heck of a lot of AAA but it was short lived in comparison to the RN's lesser amount for a longer time. That started to change in the Pacific as the war went on however.

[Captain Canada]

Those are interesting thoughts Chris. I was thinking of adding a coolant tank to my gun as well. Might as well, the more bits and bobs attached the better eh ?

[zenrat]

Well that was interesting: I always thought pom-poms fired in synched pairs, but I've just been watching some footage on youtube and it seems they didn't:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KsXYK_CNoQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDVNCS-mJSc

Thanks H.  It's hard to tell if they are in pairs or not.  Depends on which shot you study.  On the last one it looks like upper outer are a pair, upper inner, lower outer etc.  But maybe that is just coincidence (there is no such thing as coincidence - Robert Anton Wilson) and they just all fire at their own rate going in and out of synch like a pair of purloined flashing road repair lamps on a student mantlepiece (ahem).

[Weaver]

Yeah, I came to the conclusion that the "synch" was a conspiracy too. If you watch the longer clips, they go in and out of phase with each other over time.

[Captain Canada]

That's what I thought as well Weaver, didn't seem to be any particular patern !

[zenrat]

In one of the clips there's one barrel on an 8 gun mount not firing.

[PR19_Kit]

In one of the clips there's one barrel on an 8 gun mount not firing.

I bet the intended target was pleased about that. 

[Old Wombat]

In one of the clips there's one barrel on an 8 gun mount not firing.

I bet the intended target was pleased about that. 

Undoubtedly.

My guesses are either a miss feed or a dud round, although electrical firing mechanism & firing pin failure are other possibilities.

[Captain Canada]

Did a wee bit of work on this last night. Looks good for a finish tomorrow. Prob not as glamorous as I'd have liked, but then again I always dream big  Should have some pics up tonite !