Armed IAF Super Cub
- Thread starter zedzil
- Start date
Charlie Longley
MEMBER
Anchorage, AK
I like it!
mvivion
FOUNDER
Bozeman,MT
Wellll, not Isreali, but..... Back in the day, a gent in Kodiak equipped a Super Cub with a rifle, mounted above the skylight, and positioned to fire above the prop arc. The skylight was fitted with a sliding door, which the pilot could use to change magazines in flight (I'm assuming he never let the chamber go dry). The rifle was an M-1 Garand, fitted with an electrically activated button to "pull" the trigger.
This rig was built to kill brown bears, at the behest of a couple of "ranchers" who were trying to raise cattle on Kodiak. Turned out that brown bears really like beef, so these guys got together and funded the Super Cub project.
The pilot for this operation was a former WW II Mustang pilot (who'd been shot down and did time in a Stalag Luft).
Legend has it that the "rifle" was orginally a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle, in 30-06), but when an article was published in Alaska Magazine about the operation, bringing attention to the program, the fully automatic BAR was replaced with the M-1. I was never able to confirm that, however.
The operation was ended after the magazine article brought the program to the attention of the public.
Many years later, I asked the pilot about the program. He was naturally taciturn in any case, and never gave me much information about it. He did tell me that he killed quite a few bears during the short time the program was operational. I tried to con him out of some photos of the gun mounted on the plane, but no joy there.
This rig was built to kill brown bears, at the behest of a couple of "ranchers" who were trying to raise cattle on Kodiak. Turned out that brown bears really like beef, so these guys got together and funded the Super Cub project.
The pilot for this operation was a former WW II Mustang pilot (who'd been shot down and did time in a Stalag Luft).
Legend has it that the "rifle" was orginally a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle, in 30-06), but when an article was published in Alaska Magazine about the operation, bringing attention to the program, the fully automatic BAR was replaced with the M-1. I was never able to confirm that, however.
The operation was ended after the magazine article brought the program to the attention of the public.
Many years later, I asked the pilot about the program. He was naturally taciturn in any case, and never gave me much information about it. He did tell me that he killed quite a few bears during the short time the program was operational. I tried to con him out of some photos of the gun mounted on the plane, but no joy there.
Attachments
Jake- It's not a Super Cub but I put an M4 on my J3...
The local airport increased their security to level (whatever). Razer wire prison fence soon to be installed. TSA probing past certain locations... and here sits the J3 gunship.
As an aside I'm currently looking for a set of white phosphorus rockets and mounts should anybody know of a set. I can put to good use.
Zach
The local airport increased their security to level (whatever). Razer wire prison fence soon to be installed. TSA probing past certain locations... and here sits the J3 gunship.
As an aside I'm currently looking for a set of white phosphorus rockets and mounts should anybody know of a set. I can put to good use.
Zach
55-PA18A
SPONSOR
Dillingham, Alaska
I’m still curious as to how an M1 Garand mounted above the cockpit of a Super Cub could be reloaded while in flight. A BAR makes sense as it uses a box magazine inserted in to the action from the bottom.
In the mid 70’s I saw a set of wing mounted shotguns at the museum in Talkeetna. Probably used by Don Sheldon to hunt wolves. But there were a lot of guys that used to do that. I recall they had “square back” actions, so either Browning A-5’s or Remington Model 11’s.
They were attached to springs on a base that attached to the wing struts. Two shotgun actions per wing. Tube magazines were extended, but I don’t remember how many rounds each would hold (10 ?). A solenoid was attached to the front of the trigger guard, with a rod going through the front of the trigger guard and attached to the trigger. Seems like there was some sort of bank of switches to activate each solenoid.
Some time in the past there was a thread in the Forum with an attached article about a WW-2 Army Cub pilot that mounted bazookas to his Cub to hunt tanks. Talk about brass ones !!!
In the mid 70’s I saw a set of wing mounted shotguns at the museum in Talkeetna. Probably used by Don Sheldon to hunt wolves. But there were a lot of guys that used to do that. I recall they had “square back” actions, so either Browning A-5’s or Remington Model 11’s.
They were attached to springs on a base that attached to the wing struts. Two shotgun actions per wing. Tube magazines were extended, but I don’t remember how many rounds each would hold (10 ?). A solenoid was attached to the front of the trigger guard, with a rod going through the front of the trigger guard and attached to the trigger. Seems like there was some sort of bank of switches to activate each solenoid.
Some time in the past there was a thread in the Forum with an attached article about a WW-2 Army Cub pilot that mounted bazookas to his Cub to hunt tanks. Talk about brass ones !!!
cubdriver2
FRIEND
upstate NY
WWII heroics of 'Bazooka Charlie' doubted until daughter sets record straight
Some historians doubted that Maj. Charles Carpenter, actually could have strapped six bazookas onto the wings of his 800-pound reconnaissance plane.
www.usatoday.com
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Cubus Maximus
Registered User
mvivion
FOUNDER
Bozeman,MT
I spoke with my brother, who was a USAF IP, and did transition training for foreign pilots in the T-38. I remember him mentioning some Israelis, one of whome was an artillery spotter in a Super Cub. I got a note back which said those SC were unarmed, though the pilots were.
