Сначала были дистанционно управляемые Бенедикс, которые отличались трудностью в управлении, обслуживании и прочем:
"The retractable ventral turret[Benedix] was generally disliked by the Mitchell crews. The guns were sighted by a complex periscope system of lenses and mirrors mounted on the top of the turret's center column. A kneeling gunner aimed the guns by looking through the periscope sight eyepiece and directed the guns by operating a dual hand control. The optical sighting system was clumsy and cumbersome for gunners to use. Cramped in an awkward kneeling position and peering through the sight, the gunner could not see what his hands were doing, and he could not see the barrels of his weapons in his sight. The gunner often became dizzy when tracking enemy fighters through the sight, and he sometimes got so disoriented and nauseous that he could not even fire his guns. In addition, the turret took 55 seconds to be lowered into place and set up for firing. If lowered too quickly, the retracting micro switch could be damaged, jamming the turret in the down position and creating excessive aerodynamic drag. In addition, the ventral turret often collected mud and dust when operating from unimproved airfields, which obscured its sighting system. The system was usually considered more trouble than it was worth, and was generally removed by combat units in the field, saving 600 pounds in weight and providing useful space for a long-range fuel tank."
