Norden bombsight history autopilot, production problems. Typical bombsights of the prewar era worked on the vector bombsight principle introduced with the world war i course setting bomb sight. The b17, a high altitude strategic bomber, achieved its accuracy from the secretly developed norden bombsight. Dec 31, 2015 updated tutorial for the norden bombsight with crosstrail information added. Wwii norden bombsight at the wings of eagles museum in horseheads, ny.
Antonie van leeuwenhoek, a dutch draper in the seventeenth century was working in his fathers. The americans scornfully referred to it as potato farming or agricultural bombing. Norden inventor of the classified norden bombsight used in world war i. Though it spent years in development, during which time many an american, brit, and german had a look at various stages of it, it ultimately became one of the allies most. The norden consisted of a gyroscopically stabilized telescopic sight paired with an electromechanical computer where flight conditions were inputted.
As the norden bombsight helped write world war iis aviation history. Norden bombsight article about norden bombsight by the free. The norden bombsight was one of the most important u. Army air forces bombers early in world war ii, primarily b24 liberators. It has a very slightly sloping shedroof and one door on the main facade. Norden actively attempted to make the bombsight incompatible with the a5, and it was not until 1942 that the impasse was finally solved by farming out autopilot production to honeywell regulator, who combined features of the norden mounted sbae with the aircraftmounted a5 to produce what the u. Even though carl lucas norden had built a prototype and was developing his bombsight well before, it was its use during wwii which made it famous. Principles of operation of the norden bombsight wwii training movie 23251 duration. Updated tutorial for the norden bombsight with crosstrail information added.
Though it spent years in development, during which time many an american, brit, and german had a look at various stages of it, it ultimately became one of the allies most closely. It had several distinctions from the norden, and some advantages. This rorm is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. One of the most famous devices of ww ii is the norden bombsight, often mentioned along with radar and the atomic bomb as the most umportant technologies in winning the war. Operational during the vietnam war, this unique naval unit implanted electronic sensors along the famous ho chi minh trail in laos and vietnam. One of a series of classified films made for the army air forces during wwii about the norden bombsight, this film focuses on the principles behind the device. The first bombsight accepted by the government was the sperry s1 that was developed in the 1930s.
One out of every 10 norden bombsights produced was taken to a test facility for quality control and calibration. View and download raytheon 611est operation manual online. Deconstructing the myth of the norden bombsight by michael. In fact this is the probably the most famous norden bomb sight of them all. Equipped with a correctly calibrated norden bombsight, a highflying plane leveled in smooth air could put a bomb precisely on a target below. The norden bombsight was largely responsible for the success achieved by the allied bombing campaigns in both the european and pacific theatres during world war ii. A training movie showing how to use the norden bombsight to level bomb from high altitude. If they were not, the telescope had to be manually adjusted until they were. Arabic explosive manual translation 2 unclassifiedfor official use only summary this technical document covers a number of important subjects related to chemistry and explosives. Norden bombsight boeing b 17 flying fortress military. A quarterly newsletter with loads of pictures, four luncheons per year, a dinner dance and dont forget this website. Original norden bombsight used on enola gay for atom bomb drop on hiroshima august 1945, see accession memo for details. One of a series of classified films made for training by the army air forces during wwii, this film about the norden bombsight focuses on the. In its day, the norden bombsight was the pinnacle of mechanical engineering.
In 1921 the us navy drafted specifications for a bombsight that would allow bombing from high altitude. Most air forces of the era invested heavily in dive. Using the highly accurate norden bomb sight in their b17 flying fortresses, they insisted on carrying out precision daylight attacks on specific military and industrial targets, perhaps heeding eakers warning that we should never allow the history of. His idea was to remove the manual electrical switches used to move the pointer and use the entire. Sabs was a separate unit, the minor adaptations needed on the bombsight itself produced what the army referred to as the m4 model. Norden bombsight at the air heritage museum in beaver. Chart if you see brackets around a bold and small capital letter word this refers to a soft key press. The telescope for the bombsight is toward the upper center of the bombsight. On the left is a diagram from the bombardiers information file bif, dated 1944 showing the major components. Efm, llc is not liable for the accuracy, effectiveness or safe use of any aircraft manual or publication and does not warrant that any aircraft manual or publication contains current revisions.
Over 200 of us from all over the country are enjoying the club benifits. Another norden bombsight at the quonset air museum in north kingston, ri. The process took 510 seconds, a significant fraction of. This bombsight was sold on ebay around 2005 and we helped the owner with information about the sight. The sperry gyroscopes spun at 24,000 rpm, compared to the norden gyros which ran at approximately 8,000 rpm. This series of films provides a rare look at the operation of the bombsight as it was presented to bombardiers.
The norden bombsight was developed during a period of united states noninterventionism when the dominant u. Do you have norden bombsight head serial number l9091. These systems consisted of a slide ruletype calculator that was used to calculate the effects of the wind on the bomber based on. August 2005 q r stottlem says back in 1993 i learned that the u s. The army air corps was able to obtain the norden bombsight an instrument which, along with the fourengine flying fortresses, would revolutionize high level precision bombing. Scott baker 2004 says there is one in a glass case at the air force museum at dayton, ohio. The bombsight highly increased accuracy for bombardiers. Earlier this year 2008, i had the remarkable privilege of flying in a restored b17g, experiencing takeoff from the bombardiers position with a norden bombsight before me. Comes with power supply, connectorswitch box, service manual, custom stand, video for simulations, and more. While, under good conditions, it was a significant improvement over previous devices, it did not come close to the accuracy of more modern aiming systems with digital electronics, and, of course no combination of dumb bombs and bombsight could maintain the continuous correction of precision guided munitions. A considerable amount of this strategy was based on stopping attempted invasions by sea, both with direct naval power, and starting in the 1930s, with usaac airpower. There is lots of good reference material on the web, including this great site about for bombsights we are fortunate to have a complete norden bombsight with the optional x1 reflex sight. Starting in 1932 and proceeding in fits and starts for the next six years, norden developed the stabilized bombing approach equipment. It was surrounded by charges so that it could be destroyed should the enemy attempt to seize it.
A large part of the bombsight consists of two stabilization gyroscopes. The norden bombsight was crucial to the success of the u. Unfollow norden bombsight to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Norden m9 bombsight national museum of the united states air. Deconstructing the myth of the norden bombsight on our first day at norden, we were awed and even scared to be in the very building that housed the mysterious, secret, powerful and famous norden bombsight it is a wonderful, superb instrument it has made an unsurpassed contribution toward the. It was a mechanical analog computer used to determine the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to accurately hit the target.
Carl norden, developed a gyrostabilized bombsight in 1923 and delivered the mk. Victor 4120, an m9b, is the sight that was used by tom ferebee to drop the first atomic bomb on hiroshima on august 6th, 1945. Norden bombsight description and operation background. It was designated as standard equipment in march 1941 and was used in some u. Critics called the new policy aiming point cathedral. A norden bombsight at the maps air museum in north canton, oh. From what i can tell, the vast majority of people simply want to buy something to put on a shelf and point to and say, theres a norden bombsight. Also known as the blue ox, the sight relied on a mechanical computer which helped calculate the bombs trajectory based on flight conditions and. Original vector bombsight technology relied on a bomber being able to make a clean, long run towards the target, with minimal weather conditio.
Compendiums in pdfformat full of pictures and illustrations in addition. Hoax mary brown was chosen to donate her hair to become. It also could function as a training in that it describes how to set the various functions on the bombsight for use in action. The norden bombsight is arguably one of the most important technological advancements to come out of wwii. The secondgeneration norden bombsight vault at the former mccook army air field is a small rectangular structure, onestory in height, 11 feet wide and feet deep. The actual analog computing element called the rate end is the upper right portion. Bomb manual pdf bomb manual pdf bomb manual pdf download. The university of houston s college of engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them. This sight is presently installed in the nose of the most famous b29. It turns out that the famous norden bombsight was not only u. It is translated as is without verification of the content, the scientific formulas, illustration, and figures. Bomb manual pdf manuals browse the compatibility documents for system.
Army air forces daylight bombing campaign during world war ii. The navys observation squadron sixtyseven vo67 had the distinction of being the last military air squadron, of any service, to employ the norden bombsight in actual combat use. Even today people still marvel at the super secret norden bombsight. Bombsight, norden victor adding machine m9 with x1 reflex. Great advances are seldom the products of a single mind. Norden bomb sight article about norden bomb sight by the. Guaranteed to work, with a 90day warranty and lifetime product support. These systems consisted of a slide ruletype calculator that was used to calculate the effects of the wind on the bomber based on simple vector arithmetic. A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. The norden bombsight was reported to be so accurate that a bomb could be dropped into a pickle barrel from 30,000 feet. Navy, the army air corps acquired its first norden bombsight in 1932. Deconstructing the myth of the norden bombsight on our first day at norden, we were awed and even scared to be in the very building that housed the mysterious, secret, powerful and famous norden bombsight it is a wonderful, superb instrument it has made an unsurpassed contribution toward the winning of this terrible war, and we are. Xv, known as the norden m series in army service, was a bombsight used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during world war ii, and the united states air force in the korean and the vietnam wars. The next model was a gyrooptical device delivered in 1924 mk.
The norden was able to determine, from variables input by the bombardier, the point at which the aircrafts bombs should be released to hit the target. The 2 norden bombsight no m suffix on the packet is packed into a small clear sleeve that has a foldover card backing for product presentation. Explosives and wrote a fourhundredpage bombmaking manual. In practice, it was found that the pilots had a very difficult time keeping the aircraft stable enough to match the accuracy of the bombsight.
General setup when a words is in bold capital letters and underlined, this refers to a menu. Jul 26, 2018 the norden bombsight was created and used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during ww 2. Sperry as the norden bombsight helped write world war iis aviation history, the lessknown sperry technology pioneered avionics for allweather flying contrary to conventional wisdom, carl l. World war ii technology that changed warfare scholarsarchive. The first model was effective only against stationary targets. Bombardiers position in nose of b25 mitchell, norden bombsight in center. The drag on a bomb for a given air density and angle of attack is proportional to the relative air speed squared. It consists of two pairs of magnets, one pair in the base and the other in the cover, attached to two pairs of crown.
Strategic bombing in world war two is both a guide to understanding the data of the. The norden bombsight was deployed on b17, b24, b25, and a26 aircraft in european the pacific theaters in wwii. The norden bombsight was a complex, 2000piece mechanical computer. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since world war i, were first found on purposedesigned bomber aircraft and then moved to fighterbombers and modern tactical aircraft as those aircraft took up the brunt of the bombing role. Norden bombsights by moore quality norden bombsight. In 1937 the army, faced with the continuing supply problems with the norden, once again turned to sperry gyroscope to see if they could come up with a solution. B29s with norden bombsights dropped the atomic bombs on japan in 1945. The site would also be used by the us air froce during the korean and vietnam wars to help drop bombs accurately. The norden bombsight was created and used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during ww 2. To the right are five manual controls for altitude and airspeed. The norden bombsight was a tachometric bombsight used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during world war ii, and the united states air force in the korean and the vietnam wars to aid the crew of bomber aircraft in dropping bombs accurately. Norden bombsight home about us contact us donate newsletters 8th afhs links faq facebook search personnel aircraft nose art b17 thunderbird ground support uniforms journals more info mission reports combat crews individual photos photos pow kia macr overseas graves taps click photos for a larger view norden bombsight at the mighty eighth air force heritage museum, pooler.
Highly classified, it gave american forces bombing accuracy unmatched by any other nation at the time. Weapon bombardiers took an oath to guard the norden bombsight with their lives to ensure it didnt fall into enemy hands, but the secret was already out by c. Norden bombsight article about norden bombsight by the. Property name norden bombsight storage vaults national park. This also includes a few images of the product, with relation to removing the stabiliserautopilot unit from the casting block. Massey air museum has on display a norden bombsight such as would have been used by the bombardier on a b17 bomber and other u. Xv, known as the norden m series in army service, was a bombsight used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during world war ii, and the united states air force in the korean and the.
A bombsight is a device that is used to drop bombs accurately from aircraft, and the norden bombsight was perhaps one of the few scientific instruments, along with radar, ever credited with playing such a large role in the allied victory in ww ii. If you have this norden bombsight, serial number l9091 please contact me as i would like to share some more information about your sight. By mid1943, a year after the aaf began bombing german industries, it had become evident to all but the most devoted advocates of highaltitude daylight precision bombing that the actualization of this doctrine did not even come close to the prewar boast that bombers with the norden bombsight could place a 250pound bomb into a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet. The walls are 8 inches thick and the roof is also of reinforced concrete with a tar membrane. It was so advanced that crew members had to take an oath to protect its secrecy with their lives.
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