He115 defensive armament
 

Hi...

I have attached images below of an He115 with what appears to be a type of MG mount well known on some Luftwaffe aircraft. Highlighted is a small blister on the side of the fuselage, which I imagine was to accommodate what I understand would have been a circular mount for the MG support frame we see in the image, allowing the gunner to swing the weapon from side to side as required.

Some images I have seen appear to show something more akin to the Ar196 rear MG mounting, the 'Arado-Lafette', being fitted to He115s. This was a somewhat less bulky fixture, being a centrally-mounted vertical 'arm' on the rear bulkhead, which rotated at its base allowing the MG to be moved from side to side. I wonder if the installation shown in the images was more, or less, likely to have been installed on He115s and whether or not it would have been a feature on the 'B' or 'C' subtype - or both.

Both images from expired e-bay auction 02/2013

Regards,

Paul

Re: He115 defensive armament
 

The 7,92 mm Rheinmetall-Borsig MG 15 was standard on all He 115A, B and C aircraft when delivered from Heinkel. It was replaced by the Mauser MG 81Z (Zwilling) of the same caliber from the Winter of 1940/1941 on
remaining B and C models.

Re: He115 defensive armament
 

Hi...

Thanks, Seaplanes, for your response. Would you be able to inform if the MG mount on a circular attachment was replaced by the 'Arado-Lafette' mounting, or were they likely to have been seen simultaneously on differing version at any given time? Was there a timeline for changing from one MG mount to the other?

Regards,

Paul

Re: He115 defensive armament
 

Unfortunately, I do not have all my documentation with me at the moment, but I seem to recall that the original MG 15 gun mount was a
Heinkel design. I do not have a factory drawing of the gun mount, but
a parts list of the major components of the He 115A, B and C models.
However, this list is not with me at the moment and can not be reached until 9. October. Perhaps somebody else have this same documentation.