Return to "Visible Storage"

*** Please note: This website (comp-hist) was completed before I found out about Wikipedia in 2002.
Since then I have added material occasionally.
Items are certainly not complete, and may be inaccurate.
Your information, comments, corrections, etc. are eagerly requested.
Send e-mail to Ed Thelen. Please include the URL under discussion. Thank you ***

Norden Bomb Sight

Manufacturer -
Identification,ID -
Date of first manufacture-
Number produced -
Estimated price or cost-
location in museum -
donor -

Contents of this page:

Photo
  • Norden Bomb Sight
  • Norden Bomb Sight - annotated drawing
  • Norden Bomb Sight - more detail 106 KBytes
    1) Leveling knobs
    2) Caging knob (cage the gyro?)
    3) Eyepiece
    4) Index window
    5) Trail arm a?u ??? plate
    6) Extended vision knob
    7) Rate motor switch
    8) Disc??? speed gear shift
    9) Rate and displacement knobs
    10) Mirror drive clutch
    11) Search knob
    12) Disc??? speed drum
    13) Turn and drift knobs
    14) Tachometer adapter
    15) Release lever
    16) Crosshair rheostat
    17) Drift scale
    18) ??? Brush and co??
    19) Autopilot clutch engaging knob
    20) Bombsight clutch
    21) Bombsight clutch engaging lever
    22) Bombsight clutch
    23) Bombsight connecting rod
    24) Autopilot conmecting rod

Placard
-

Architecture
-

Special features
- gyro stabilized in azimuth and vertical
- early use of aircraft gyros being inductively spun

Historical Notes
  • The Legendary Norden Bombsight by Albert L. Pardini, published by Shiffer Military History,Atglen,PA.
  • John Osgood wrote:
    Might be of interest to you that the last use of the sight, as far as I know, was during Vietnam. Observation Squadron 67 (VO-67) used it to drop sensors on the Ho Chi Min trail.
    The squadron used P2V-5 aircraft.
    John Osgood
    former VO-67 squadron member.

This Artifact
-

Interesting Web Sites

Other information
  • Scott Baker (2004) says there is "one (in a glass case) at the Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio."
  • (August 2005 - Q R Stottlem says "Back in 1993 I learned that the U S. Air Force Museum, 1100 Spaatz Street, Wright Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7102 had and would copy originally restricted material on the M9 Norden bombsight, a 370 page manual for $37 and Lowry Field manual for $25. I purchased both and also received a copy of the original excellent Popular Science article of June 1945. The museum may still offer this service. I'll be glad to furnish a limited number of copies of the P. S. article to whoever desires copy."
  • One page of an alignment document. (99 K bytes)


If you have comments or suggestions, Send e-mail to Ed Thelen

Go to Antique Computer home page
Go to Visual Storage page
Go to top

Updated Aug, 2018