Norden Bombsight Principles #2

[@MrKen-wy5dk]

Can you imagine how smart old Norden had to be to even visualize all these concepts at once, much less be able to design a mechanism to do it? And, his only computer was a slide rule.

[@DavidB1124]

I love the science behind war..

[@jaewok5G]

the kid's a pretty good mime

[@faffaflunkie]

How do you get the _drift speed_ in order to *set up* the _angle_ of the *telescope?*

[@ragecactus454]

The pilot would first determine the direction of the wind, and estimated its speed. The estimated speed was dialled into the sight, which moved a metal rod at the back of the sight so it laid at an angle to the fuselage. The aircraft would then fly at right angles to the bomb line, which would cause the wind to push the aircraft sideways (unless this direction the aircraft is flying while doing this just happens to be directly upwind or downwind). Comparing the angle of motion of objects on the ground to the angle of the rod, the bomb aimer would adjust the angle of the rod until the two were equal. A scale at the end of the bar directly read the wind speed. - Drift Sight Wiki

[@eddievhfan1984]

This is explained in the operations video a bit better, but the usual online procedure for correcting for drift was to get the target in the telescope sight in azimuth, watch for a few seconds to determine the direction of drift, and then turn the azimuth and drift knobs at the same time ("double-gripping") in the opposite direction of the drift to center up on target again. The system was geared such that when the two knobs were turned at once, the plane would be commanded to turn 5x faster than the telescope turned, correcting for drift. You might have to repeat this procedure a few times to completely neutralize drift, but it works. The use of a drift meter mentioned in the OP could also be used, but it requires the navigator being available to take a measurement, or the pilot able to make a guess. In a combat situation, that might be a bit too tough.

[@gkess7106]

Thanks! I was wondering the exact same thing!

[@f.6081]

Учиться это здорово,от этого парня зависели многие жизни!👍❤️⭐......🇺🇦

[@barron8006]

How does the sight automatically adjust for tilt?

[@bgdragon99]

Gyroscopes.

[@eddievhfan1984]

The vertical gyroscope stabilizes the telescope in pitch and roll. The stabilizer mount for the bombsight holds a horizontal gyro to act as a heading reference for the bombsight.