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Originally Posted by 54thAIB
Hello and many thanks for the input and advice on this matter. I appreciate the welcome and feedback. My question centered around whether or how a SPAD pilot cocked his Vickers in flight. Cocking a machine gun involves a quick, sharp pull on the loading lever to chamber the first round.The presumption was that the weapons were already loaded and the belts fed into the receivers on the ground. I thank Nacho for pointing out that the pilot would then cock the weapons before take off. That would be easier than in the air. So back to my question about the position of these levers- any thoughts about whether they pointed up or down into the cockpit? And once in flight, if the gun(s) jammed, SPADs had mallets onboard to smack the gun or levers to clear a jam. Then they would need to re-cock the weapon to resume firing. Did they try to reach over the windscreen to bang these guns or pound away on the levers inside the cockpit? Thanks for the advice about the Sopwiths having a similar set up. I'll check that out since I'm not yet familiar with that aircraft. Much obliged.
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I still think the instrument panel would have not allowed for the handles to be modified to point into the cockpit. Also the pilot wasnt that far away from the handles..so it wasnt that far of a reach. imho..of course
