The accuracy of airdelivered weapons air power development. And of course, in wartime, conditions arent perfect. Archived thread what is the value of a norden bombsight. Jun 29, 2017 the legend of wwiis bombsight rapunzel. The norden bombsight was created and used by the united states army air forces usaaf and the united states navy during ww 2. Norden bombsight at the new england air museum near hartford, ct.
Look up norden, norden, or norden in wiktionary, the free dictionary norden is a scandinavian and german word, directly translated as the north. Norden bombsights by moore quality norden bombsight. Courtesy of war history online book on the history of the norden bombsight, which claimed the. The secondgeneration norden bombsight vault at the former mccook army air base near mccook, nebraska, is an example of the structures used by the military to help ensure the secrecy of this advanced technology device during world war ii. In the summer of 1937, the luftwaffe asked the abwehr to obtain the design of the much heralded and supersecret norden bombsight. Norden bombsight article about norden bombsight by the. At one point a 617 squadron bomb aimer put his tallboy 6 ton bomb directly on the target and blew up one of the recording cameras somewhat pessimistically buried on the central dot. Bomb sight mapping the world war 2 london blitz bomb census. 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 a complex, 2000piece mechanical computer. Queries to the operatives in new york brought the response that no one in the ring had access to it. In fact this is the probably the most famous norden bomb sight of them all. Nordon bombsight article about nordon bombsight by the free. How effective was the norden bombsight in the ww2 daylight.
These systems consisted of a slide ruletype calculator that was used to calculate the effects of the wind on the bomber based on. Norden bombsight description and operation background. With over two thousand parts, it represented decades of research and testing. Secondgeneration norden bombsight vault photo courtesy of nebraska state historic preservation office. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed. His idea was to remove the manual electrical switches used to move the pointer and use the. One out of every 10 norden bombsights produced was taken to a test facility for quality control and calibration. People have been coming up to me ever since to ask me questions about spaghetti sauce, which is a wonderful thing in the short term but its proven to be less than ideal over seven years. The legend of wwiis bombsight rapunzel atlas obscura. During the entire war the norden was considered a top secret piece of equipment and normally when it was shown in training films, it was hidden behind a piece of canvas or otherwise blacked out. It turns out that the famous norden bombsight was not only u.
Master storyteller malcolm gladwell tells the tale of the norden bombsight, a groundbreaking piece of world war ii technology. 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. Norden bombsight at the air heritage museum in beaver. Bd0111 norden bombsight principles, army air force film d0 duration. 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. The norden bombsight is arguably one of the most important technological advancements to come out of wwii. The museum of aviation in georgia claims that no one has seen a norden bombsight with anything but. The first model was effective only against stationary. Army brass liked to brag that, using the norden, crews could drop their bombs in a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet, although i imagine that they. Bomb sight makes you discover london during ww2 luftwaffe blitz bombing raids, exploring maps, images and memories. Antonie van leeuwenhoek, a dutch draper in the seventeenth century was working in his fathers. Dec 29, 20 bd0111 norden bombsight principles, army air force film d0 duration. Norden had its beginnings in the company that developed and manufactured the norden bombsight of world war ii fame. Aircraft manuals and publications required for any reason.
Brown located a battered copy of a wwii training film on the norden bombsight in the smithsonian institute. This series of films provides a rare look at the operation of the bombsight as it was presented to bombardiers. Lectures of the air corps tactical school and american strategic. Even today people still marvel at the super secret norden bombsight. 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. Even though carl lucas norden had built a prototype and was developing his bombsight well before, it. Nordon bombsight article about nordon bombsight by the. In practice, the norden bombsight can drop a bomb into a pickle barrel at 20,000 ft. It was designated as standard equipment in march 1941 and was used in some u. Norden bombsight article about norden bombsight by the free. Norden bombsight history autopilot, production problems. The norden bombsight was the standardissue bombsight during most of world war ii and well afterward. 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. Below you will find scanned pages from the bombardiers information file bif.
It begins when you hit the predesignated waypoint, about two. Also known as the blue ox, the sight relied on a mechanical computer which helped calculate the bombs trajectory based on flight conditions and. 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. Conrad brown, was located and assigned tad to vo67. 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. Norden bombsight boeing b 17 flying fortress military technology. The norden bombsight facilitated unprecedented bombing accuracy from high altitudes, and was thus rightly considered one of americas most highly valued military secrets. The b17, a high altitude strategic bomber, achieved its accuracy from the secretly developed norden bombsight. The bomb sight web map and mobile app reveals ww2 bomb census maps between 7101940 and 06061941, previously available only by viewing them in the reading room of the national archives. Original vector bombsight technology relied on a bomber being able to make a clean, long run towards the target, with minimal weather conditio. 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. Theres a postscript to the norden story of carl norden and his fabulous bombsight.
Army service, is a bombsight that was 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 first bombsight accepted by the government was the sperry s1 that was developed in the 1930s. Before you even reach the target area, youre going to be running down a long list of calibrations and designations. In 1945, pattons third army came upon a hidden factory in the tyrolean alps and captured its secret product. Pictured are some of the platforms hosting norden radar, display and fire control systems. Expired lifetime application number us574593a inventor carl l norden original assignee carl l norden. By the late 1930s, the combination of the b17 and the norden bombsight had finally provided the air corps. 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.
The norden bombsight was reported to be so accurate that a bomb could be dropped into a pickle barrel from 30,000 feet. I last did a tedtalk i think about seven years ago or so. This bombsight was sold on ebay around 2005 and we helped the owner with information about the sight. The norden consisted of a gyroscopically stabilized telescopic sight paired with an electromechanical computer where flight conditions were inputted. The enigma of the norden bombsight maxwell air force. David sent in these scans from the b36 flight manual. In 1941, shortly before the united states entered world war ii, haupt took a leave of absence from his factory job and disappeared from the streets of chicagos north side. The norden bombsight is arguably one of the most important technological advancements to come out of. B29s with norden bombsights dropped the atomic bombs on japan in 1945.
Apr 23, 20 despite massive investment and effort by the technology enamored army, the mystique of the norden bombsight failed to hold up in the field according to malcolm gladwell. The norden bombsight was chosen to lead the way in daylight precision bombing by the united states army air forces in world war ii. Ar15 ak47 handgun precision rifles armory training competitive shooting general outdoors archery hometown industry. No one told carl norden that his bombsight had been used over hiroshima. If you have this norden bombsight, serial number l9091 please contact me as i would like to share some more information about your sight. The museum of aviation in georgia claims that no one has seen a norden bombsight with anything but crosshairs etched directly onto the glass, and that. And that is, on august 6th, 1945, a b29 bomber called the enola gay flew over japan and, using a norden bombsight, dropped a very large thermonuclear device on the city of hiroshima. This great book was issued to each bombardier in wwii and was intended to be a quick reference guide for use in the field. Dayton, ohio estoppey d1 and d4 bombsights located in the.
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. It was an early tachometric design that directly measured the aircrafts ground speed and direction, which older bombsights could only. Jul 31, 2017 the norden bombsight also did not allow bombs to be accurately targeted if the plane were descending in a glide a maneuver preferred to level flight during bombing runs because changing altitude made the bomber a more elusive target for antiaircraft guns and its trail settings were too limited to accommodate the wind resistance encountered by. It is not very difficult to hit a target from an altitude of 30,000 feet. 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. Begin them 3040 minutes before you reach the target area. The enigma of the norden bombsight maxwell air force base. Typical bombsights of the prewar era worked on the vector bombsight principle introduced with the world war i course setting bomb sight. A gyroscopically stabilized synchronizing bombsight used mainly for synchronous bombing but useful for fixedangle bombing explanation of nordon bombsight. 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. Carl l norden original assignee carl l norden priority date the priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion.
The norden bombsight was deployed on b17, b24, b25, and a26 aircraft in european the pacific theaters in wwii. Due to its large size, you can viewdownload this document in the following separate. Do you have norden bombsight head serial number l9091. Mar 14, 2016 malcolm gladwell gave a ted talk about the norden bombsight back in 2011, wherein i found this bit.
Although not as accurate as the norden bombsight, the interwar bombsights proved superior to those. The luftwaffe decided their lotfe 7 was better than the norden and gave the american device no further consideration. Malcolm gladwell gave a ted talk about the norden bombsight back in 2011, wherein i found this bit. Interwar development of bombsights national museum of the usaf.
In its day, the norden bombsight was the pinnacle of mechanical engineering. The bomb missed its target by 800 feet, but of course it didnt matter, and thats the greatest irony of all, gladwell said. This series of films provides a rare look at the operation of the bombsight as it. Norden developed a gyrostabilised bombsight in 1923 and delivered the mk. The sperry s1 precision bombsight was developed in the 1930s. Updated tutorial for the norden bombsight with crosstrail information added. The norden bombsight was the plot of an episode of hogans heroes. Com is the worlds largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types. Norden inventor of the classified norden bombsight used in world war i. And to put that in perspective, the total cost of the manhattan project was three billion dollars. Sperry s1 bombsight national museum of the united states. Email item 000022 detail wwii army air forces collection.
Illustration from a manual showing how the bombardier operated the d1 bombsight. 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. That tradition continued through 20 with the development and manufacture of sophisticated airborne electronics systems. Nordens that were not calibrated had an accuracy of more like 14 mils, or a 14 foot miss for every 1,000 feet of altitude. Bombsight definition of bombsight by merriamwebster. Bombers that its highly secret norden bombsight provided such accuracy that a bomb could be placed in a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet. 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. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. 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. Army air forces bombers early in world war ii, primarily b24 liberators. Another norden bombsight at the quonset air museum in north kingston, ri.
Recent examples on the web kermit beahan, used a norden bombsight to target the factory. Wwii norden bombsight at the wings of eagles museum in horseheads, ny. Dec 31, 2015 updated tutorial for the norden bombsight with crosstrail information added. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. It was years after i saw that show before i learned more about the real.
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 sbae with the a5 to produce the c1. Great advances are seldom the products of a single mind. Deconstructing the myth of the norden bombsight by michael. 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. Aug 01, 2010 this book explains how the bombsight works. A norden bombsight at the maps air museum in north canton, oh. This sight is presently installed in the nose of the most famous b29. It is commonly used to refer to the nordic countries and may also refer to. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.