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This is a normal post Well,
the thing weighted a ton with the turret in and so couldn't carry the same amount of fuel plus forward guns plus ammunition. The plan was for the plane to get under the bombers and shoot up.

Trouble was, when it was conceived, the only threat to the UK was the bombers - the fighter escort simply didn't have the range to come from Germany.
It was only after it had been put into production that Adolf had been an utter cad and occupied France so the bombers had fighter escort which were more than a match for the poor Defiants.

The bastard.
 (Bigg_Les Spitting Image is the hero we need, Fri 1 Dec 2017, 23:36, , Reply)
This is a normal post Not cricket,
I say.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 3:46, , Reply)
This is a normal post Apt username is apt.
Also, wasn’t there a plane with a similar concept of operation with fixed guns firing 45° up?
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 11:59, , Reply)
This is a normal post The Germans had some
"Jazz Music" system fitted to some night fighters.
 (TSL, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 14:15, , Reply)
This is a normal post Not Wagner?
I assume you're talking about Schräge Musik and not real jazz sound systems terrorising Blighty with complex time signatures.
 (I helped save b3ta! Cerebus Sticky! Sticky! Stick! Stick!, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 19:57, , Reply)
This is a normal post I feel
I should add a Fast show gif here, but don't have one :(
 (TSL, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 20:35, , Reply)
This is a normal post

(I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 22:40, , Reply)
This is a normal post Ithankyew

(TSL, Sun 3 Dec 2017, 0:30, , Reply)
This is a normal post They did try that in WW1 I think
I think it was on the SE5a to fight balloons (they being higher up than the maximum altitude it could reach). The gun was fixed on a track that tilted it back 90° in order to reload the drum as standard and they did try to fire it straight up in the reload position to get the extra height.

The problem was, the gun jammed a lot when fired that way plus the ammo was incendiary - against the rules to use them in normal dogfights (yes, there were rules!) The pilot needed to be carrying special balloon mission documents in case of capture by the enemy. If they got caught without them, they'd be executed rather than be taken prisoner

By WW2 I think two-seaters were much more powerful and fighters much more suited to shooting bombers (which had better blind spot protection)
 (Bigg_Les Spitting Image is the hero we need, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 22:21, , Reply)
This is a normal post The irony was
the incendiary bullets did practically no damage to the balloons, just whizzing straight through the fabric.
It was the explosive rounds that really lit the torch, so to speak.
 (Bigg_Les Spitting Image is the hero we need, Sat 2 Dec 2017, 23:10, , Reply)