Turreted Fighter: Crackpot Schemes or Good Ideas Badly Done p4/7

A nearly all-around gun turret promised to let the pilot evade while a gunner fought the target, giving the idea more tactical logic than its reputation suggests.

The turret, gunner, and armament imposed a weight penalty that single-engine aircraft such as the Roc or Defiant lacked the power to absorb.

The idea anticipated later guided-weapon logic, but 1930s technology could not make it work in a single-engine fighter.

The Defiant found a useful night-fighter role, but its replacement by the Beaufighter exposed the advantages of a larger twin-engine aircraft.

Choosing .303 machine guns instead of 20 mm Hispano cannon exposed the tradeoff between striking power and the weight a turret fighter could carry.

A Wellington-type bomber with 20 mm cannon turrets and radar is an appealing night-fighter thought experiment, though it probably would not work as imagined.

The Roc's opportunity cost raises the prospect of more Hurricanes, Spitfires, or Skuas, along with a better engine path for the Skua.