Every once in a while I get some hair-brained idea to google, this morning it was what WW2 airplanes would have benefited from a all moving tail.  Somehow I wound up at the Smithsonian looking at the X-1, and ran across a new article about the development of the B-29 and the remotely operated gun turrets.  

Defending the Superbomber: The B-29’s Central Fire Control System

I thought it was interesting...

"The GE fire control system provided valuable protection for the superbomber. With an effective range of 900 yards, it provided accuracy at 50 percent more range than non-computer sighted guns, and over twice the range of most enemy fighters’ guns. A post-war official report credited B-29s with 914 victories against 72 losses in over 31,000 sorties flown in the 13 months from August 1944 to August 1945".

"The appearance of MiG fighter jets in the Korean skies, however, signaled the end of the aging system. Though Superfortress gunners are credited with shooting down 27 aircraft during the Korean War, including a MiG 15, the B-29 had trouble keeping up with the speed of new aircraft. Although soon obsolete, the once state-of the-art B-29 fire control had been one of the revolutionary components of the first superbomber and would serve as the model for future bomber defense weapons systems".

The B-29 project was the most expensive project of the war, 1 Billion more than even the Manhattan Project with the Atomic Bomb.

Here is another article I found this morning while browsing.

A 100% original, never restored WW2 P-51d in its original flying condition that went on sale last year. You might find it interesting.   Still with its original guns.  The owner, a wealthy Texan apparently was selling off his quite large inventory of WW2 fighters.

Phil