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1941 US Navy aircraft gun camera Type N4


Flightpath
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The latest item for my collection, a 1941 US Navy Type N4 gun camera by Fairchild Aviation Corp., this type of camera was used in most WW2 USN fighter & attack aircraft. The camera was usually mounted facing forward in the wing or fuselage and started filming when the guns were fired to record the effect of the aircrafts gunfire.

 

The camera is in really nice condition and still has the original lens filter. The 16mm film magazine is marked "THIS MAGAZINE IS THE PROPERTY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT".....

 

I have a later US Navy Type N-6A gun camera by Bell & Howell, both cameras are made to fit on the same type of mount.

 

1941 gunsight camera details.jpg

1941 gunsight camera kill photos.jpg

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5 hours ago, dmar836 said:

Both in great condition!

Yes, the N-6A is nice too, these used to be very common and cheap to pick up.

I was looking in my Dauntless SBD-5 pilot's handbook, it shows a camera button for the gunner's flexible guns but I think that might be just for training purposes.

Here is the box that the magazine came in, I think it is a Navy order number?

 

Screenshot_20200808-170626_eBay.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/2/2020 at 8:52 AM, jerry_k said:

Great! I always want to have one in my collection!

 

Cheers,

Jerry

Hi Jerry, is the order number on the box for the magazine a Navy number? (starting with NXs)

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  • 3 years later...
Armyman 101

Does anyone know what the number in the small green circle mean on the metal box that holds the film.

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Flightpath
6 hours ago, Armyman 101 said:

Does anyone know what the number in the small green circle mean on the metal box that holds the film.

Hi,

Do you mean the small window on the film magazine with the green background? As far as I know, it shows if the magazine is empty or has film in it, my magazine was new in the box and the window just shows green with no number, the box for the magazine has "EMPTY" printed on it.

Cheers, John

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