Subdeacon Joe Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 The Norden distinguished itself through its early tachometric design, enabling direct measurement of the aircraft's ground speed and direction—a feat previously reliant on cumbersome manual procedures with older bombsights. The Norden boasted advancements over its predecessors by integrating an analog computer capable of continuously recalculating the bomb's impact point in response to evolving flight conditions. Moreover, it featured an autopilot system that adeptly and promptly adjusted to variations in wind and other environmental factors, further enhancing accuracy and effectiveness. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 The Norden bomb sight worked great in trials and I agree it was a major technological advance. Of course it was being operated by well trained people who weren't being shot at. During war time, accuracy went down significantly due to young, rapidly trained men, flak bursts and enemy fighters. US daylight "precision" bombing wasn't a whole lot better then the British nighttime area bombing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Au Contrare Monsuer . . . Our daylight bombing was much better than the Brits were at night. "We" could better see by how much we missed the actual target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, The rest of the story: Mary Babnik Brown From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Babnik Brown Born November 22, 1907 Pueblo, Colorado Died April 14, 1991 (aged 83) Pueblo, Colorado Occupation(s) Laborer, labor leader Parent(s) Frank Wolf Babnik[1] and Mary Babnik[2] Washington Institute of Technology letter 26 Nov 1943 inviting Brown to submit her hair for the government war effort Mary Babnik Brown (November 22, 1907 – April 14, 1991) was an American who became known for having donated her hair to the United States military during World War II. Thirty-four inches (86 cm) long, her blonde hair had never been chemically treated or heated with curling irons.[3] Brown declined compensation for her donation, believing what she had done was her patriotic duty.[2] President Ronald Reagan wrote to her on her 80th birthday in 1987 to thank her, and in 1990 she received a special achievement award from the Colorado Aviation Historical Society during a ceremony at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Babnik_Brown 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I worked for a former Air Force colonel who was my dad’s CO in Korea. During WWII, he was a bombardier on B17s. He explained that his number one responsibility was to protect that bombsight! In the event that the plane was going down, he was to destroy the bombsight to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. To that end, part of his training was spent with Army Rangers, (or whatever they were called at the time) and he received extra training in hand to hand and demolition. He said that he was instructed to bring it back if he could or “to see that it wasn’t captured at all costs”! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I read that Singer quit making 1911's because their ability to make sewing machines made them perfect for making the bomb sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 The theory of "daylight precision bombing" was to destroy the enemy's ability to make war by destroying manufacture of strategic materials, ball bearings, fighter aircraft, etc., avoiding "collateral damage". The results of adhering to this theory were more KIA suffered by Eighth Airforce than U.S. Marines in WWII. The same idea was attempted in the Pacific, and it didn't work there either. Took a cigar-chomping major general to decide that the Brits had the right idea...bomb the targets at night using incendiaries! (In June 1964, Old Iron @$$ himself swore in my AFROTC classmates as 2LTs. (I had another year of engineering to go until graduation and commissioning.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I’m sure the Axis got all the Norden bombsights they needed from the wreckage of downed aircraft, despite efforts to thwart it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 that was instrumental on ending the war in europe , as well as the pacific - i like our newer guidance munitions as they are more selective to the target but in the end if in WWII we might have had these - i wonder if our targets could have been isolated ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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