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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0709.PDF
MARCH I8TH, 1943 FLIGHT 285 The M G 131 AWeapon for Bombers and Fighter Bombers : Construction and Per- formance : Variety in Application AIRCRAFT recently put into operation by the /"\ Luftwaffe bear witness to the previously ob- •*- •* served tendency to increase their armament. This applies equally to the installation of weapons lor offensive and defensive purposes. Thus the Henschel He 129 mounts two 7.9 mm. MG17S, two 15 mm. MG 151 guns, and a Mk 101 cannon of 30 mm. Similarly, the Me 109 G-2 has an armament consisting of two 7.9 mm. guns, one Mauser MG 151/20 20 mm. cannon, and provision for another gun of this type. It will be remembered that the Fw 190 mounts two MG 17s with interrupter gear and 1,000 rounds each (chiefly used for aiming and therefore firing a large proportion of tracer ammunition), two MG 151/20s with a motor-driven interrupter gear, and two Oerlikon FF cannons with ammunition drums in the wings containing 60 rounds. The standard machine gun of German fighters remains, however, the MG 17 of 7.92 mm. (0.303m.) calibre, manu- factured by the Rheinmetall-Borsig Company. The gun has an approximate length of 47.2m. (120 cm.) and weighs just under 28 lb. (13 kg.). Without interrupter gear its rate of fire is 1,100 r.p.m. It may be noted that the armament of German aircraft, while thus showing that increase which is a characteristic feature of development in this war, is confined to a few standard types and their varied application. These few types, the MG17, the Mauser 151/15, the Mauser 151/20, and the Oerlikon FF cannon, were discussed in the com- prehensive review of fighter aircraft armament published in Flight of November 12th, 19th and 24th, 1942. While the MG17 still appears to be holding its own on fighters, the MG 131 is destined to become the standard The flexible version oi the 13 mm. MG 131. The gun is mounted a few inches in front of the feeder be't. defensive weapon of bombers and fighter bombers. It is a 13 mm. (0.512111.) machine gun with a barrel length of 21.65m. (550 mm.) and an overall length with flash-damping tube of 46.06m. (1,170 mm.). It has a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 2,500 ft. /sec. (750 m. /sec). It can be installed either in lenticular mounts or on gun rings, singly or in pairs, cr rigidly mounted and remotely controlled. Ahead of the stationary gun casing is mounted the return mechanism which, in addition to a return spring, com- prises a revolving locking sleeve and the coupling device between the barrel and the breech, while the rear end of- the gun is formed by the recoil spring casing. The ammuni- tion feed, which is actuated by a lever system, is situated above the breech casing. Method of Operation Upon a round being fired, the barrel and breech remain firmly locked and are forced back together by the recoil until the projectile has left the barrel. Thereupon the unlocking process, and the separation of the breech from the masses sliding rearwards with the barrel, is initiated by the revolving locking sleeve; with.the acceleration of the breech occurs a deceleration of the recoil masses, which then make the return stroke under the action of the return spring. In the course of this operation the breech mechanism has extracted and ejected the empty cartridge case ; simul- taneously with the forward motion of the barrel the feeder mechanism delivers the next cartridge to the breech, so that upon the completion of the forwaid stroke and the rekicking of the barrel and breech the gun is again loaded, the bolt cocked and the arm in a firing position. Both fixed and flexible versions are fed from an adjustable and disintegrat- ing metal belt. The pneumatic loading system com- prises a compressed air container, charged to 2,200 lb./sq. in., irom which compressed air is fed via a pressure-reduction valve which re- duces it to 441.18 lb./sq. in. The loading operation is .effected by a spring-loaded, single-acting piston, and is electrically controlled by a shut-oil valve in the compressed air feed sys- tem. Firing is also controlled elec- trically and effected by means of a solenoid. The ammunition of the MG 131 con- sists either of high-capacity explosive shells or solid armour-piercing projec- tiles also provided with a tracer charge. The explosive shell has a - (Above) The breech body, with and * without the pneumatic remote loading device mounted on the side, and (right) the complete gun as mounted rigidly in wings or fuselages.
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