pgmomni -
Sounds like a story I heard about USA jet fighters in Vietnam. They didn't have machine guns, but they needed them to dogfight. Soooo, they made an "external gun pod" that was powered by a ram air turbine :
U.S. aircraft gun pods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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XM12/M12 and SUU-16/A
Developed as a pod for high-speed fighter aircraft which lacked a gun, this pod was fitted with a single M61A1 20 mm cannon and 1,200 rounds of ammunition. This weapon is powered by a ram-air turbine, and fires at a fixed rate of 6,000 rpm. However, for this firing rate to be achieved the aircraft needs to fly over 300 mph (480 km/h), and the pod is designed to be optimal at speeds above 400 mph (640 km/h). Its weight, 1,650 lb (750 kg) loaded, also precludes it from many light aircraft.
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Ram air turbine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quote:
A ram air turbine (RAT) is a small turbine that is connected to a hydraulic pump, or electrical generator, installed in an aircraft and used as a power source. The RAT generates power from the airstream due to the speed of the aircraft.
With the exception of crop dusters (see below), modern aircraft only use RATs in emergency - in case of the loss of both primary and auxiliary power sources the RAT will power vital systems (flight controls, linked hydraulics and also flight-critical instrumentation). Some RATs produce only hydraulic power, which is in turn used to power electrical generators. In some early aircraft, small RATs were permanently mounted and operated a small electrical generator or fuel pump.
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I don't think it would help MPG unless it is only deployed in braking/coast down events.
CarloSW2