Gondola is the general term for the usually-armored ventral casemate-style positions used on many World War II-era military bomber aircraft, especially on German designs,[1] where they were usually known as Bodenlafette, often shortened to Bola[2] (from German Boden, 'floor', + Lafette 'gun carriage or mounting', from French l'affût, gun carriage).
Gondolas were either used to house a gunner or a bombardier.
Galleryedit
Examples of gondolas on World War II military aircraft:
Heinkel He 111H bomber with its bola gondola just behind the bomb bay
Junkers Ju 88A bomber's nose, clearly showing the classic bodenlafette, or bola, undernose form of gondola fitted, in one form or another, to almost all German bomber designs of World War II
B-17D Flying Fortress of 1940, having its "bathtub" gondola in virtually the same location as the He 111H
Heinkel He 177As, with the foreground aircraft's nose prominently showing the bulky bola under the cabin
A flight of four Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79Sparviero trimotor bombers, each with a similar gondola behind the bomb bay, but primarily used for the bombardier on this design, because of the nose-mounted engine taking up a bombardier's usual location
^Kay, Anthony L.; Smith, John Richard (2002). German Aircraft of the Second World War: Including Helicopters and Missiles. Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1557500106. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
^Stedman, Robert F. (2012). Kampfflieger: Bomber Crewman of the Luftwaffe 1939-45. Osprey Publishing. ISBN978-1782006633. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
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gondola, airplane, gondola, general, term, usually, armored, ventral, casemate, style, positions, used, many, world, military, bomber, aircraft, especially, german, designs, where, they, were, usually, known, bodenlafette, often, shortened, bola, from, german,. Gondola is the general term for the usually armored ventral casemate style positions used on many World War II era military bomber aircraft especially on German designs 1 where they were usually known as Bodenlafette often shortened to Bola 2 from German Boden floor Lafette gun carriage or mounting from French l affut gun carriage Gondolas were either used to house a gunner or a bombardier Gallery editExamples of gondolas on World War II military aircraft nbsp Heinkel He 111H bomber with its bola gondola just behind the bomb bay nbsp Junkers Ju 88A bomber s nose clearly showing the classic bodenlafette or bola undernose form of gondola fitted in one form or another to almost all German bomber designs of World War II nbsp B 17D Flying Fortress of 1940 having its bathtub gondola in virtually the same location as the He 111H nbsp Heinkel He 177As with the foreground aircraft s nose prominently showing the bulky bola under the cabin nbsp A flight of four Italian Savoia Marchetti SM 79 Sparviero trimotor bombers each with a similar gondola behind the bomb bay but primarily used for the bombardier on this design because of the nose mounted engine taking up a bombardier s usual locationSee also editOther types of aircraft equipped with gondolas Airship Balloon aircraft References edit Kay Anthony L Smith John Richard 2002 German Aircraft of the Second World War Including Helicopters and Missiles Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1557500106 Retrieved July 1 2014 Stedman Robert F 2012 Kampfflieger Bomber Crewman of the Luftwaffe 1939 45 Osprey Publishing ISBN 978 1782006633 Retrieved July 1 2014 nbsp This military aviation article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gondola airplane amp oldid 1092283208, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
