entropy

I have several questions about the weapon mounts on WWII aircraft, some of them even qualify for today's airplanes.

How was the recoil softened on guns fixed in wings and fuselage? Did they have recoil absorbers, and if yes, of what kind?
How much did the recoil make the plane shake during firing? Had one to fire in short bursts and then re-acquire again?
How does one deal with the recoil today with all the multi-barreled chainguns?

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If memory serves...

gunnut

That's a very good question and I don't know the answer.

The only 2 examples of recoil dampener on a gun that I know of are the 75mm cannon mounted on some B-25s in WW2 and the 30mm chaingun mounted on the Apache. It's kinda obvious for the 75mm to have recoil mechanism on the B-25. I think the 30mm on the Apache has recoil dampeners because it can fire in all direction, not just centerline forward. No recoil dampener might not be a good idea firing sideways.

The 50 cal Ma Duece fires on the short recoil principle, so that's almost like a recoil dampener. That might be enough for the guns mounted in the wings of fighters in WW2. I don't know about those mounted in bomber turrets. The waist gunners in B-17s and B-24s had hydraulic mounts to dampen the recoil.

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"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.