Helicopter crew-served weapon mounting apparatus

For use on an aircraft having an interior area with an exterior side wall opening, armament apparatus comprising:

• an elongated, generally plank-shaped support beam member having top and bottom sides extending between opposite side edges, an outer end portion, and a longitudinally intermediate section extending inwardly from said outer end portion, said longitudinally intermediate section being sized and configured to be longitudinally extendable, bottom side down, transversely through the interior area and be secured within the interior area with said outer end portion extending outwardly through the exterior side wall opening, said outer end portion having, at least along a majority of its length, an edge-to-edge width less than that of said longitudinally intermediate section;
• and
• a weapon mounting structure, mounted on a top side portion of said outer end portion for operatively supporting a crew-served weapon,
• wherein the outer end portion is configured such that a crew member may sit on said support beam member, with the crew member's legs outside of the aircraft and downwardly straddling said outer end portion, and operate a crew-served weapon supported by said weapon mounting structure;
• and
• a foot rest structure depending from a bottom side of the outer end portion.