Short S.29 Sterling Mk I Series I
Mk I Series I was assigned to training duties for most of its RAF career, although it was aircraft of this type that took part in the first raid by Stirling, against oil tanks at Rotterdam on 10 February 1941.
The Mk I Series I carried three Frazer Nash gun turrets – the two gun FN5A in the nose, the four gun FN4A turret at the rear and a two gun retractable FB25A ventral turret underneath the aircraft, each using the standard .0303in machine gun. The ventral turret was not a success. It had a tendency to lower itself when the aircraft taxied, suffered from poor visibility, and slowed the aircraft by around 10 mph (the same problems had caused the removal of a similar turret from the early Wellington bombers).
The Mk I Series I carried three Frazer Nash gun turrets – the two gun FN5A in the nose, the four gun FN4A turret at the rear and a two gun retractable FB25A ventral turret underneath the aircraft, each using the standard .0303in machine gun. The ventral turret was not a success. It had a tendency to lower itself when the aircraft taxied, suffered from poor visibility, and slowed the aircraft by around 10 mph (the same problems had caused the removal of a similar turret from the early Wellington bombers).