Norden bombsight
 |
The Norden bombsight |
 |
A page from the Bombardier's Information File (BIF) that describes the components and controls of the Norden Bombsight. |
The
Norden bombsight was a
bombsight used by the United States Army Air Force during
World War II, the
Korean War, and the
Vietnam War to aid the pilot of
bomber aircraft in dropping
bombs accurately. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of World War II.
The Norden sight was originally designed for use on
U.S. Navy aircraft by
Carl Norden, a Dutch engineer educated in
Switzerland who emigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and worked on bombsights at the
Sperry Corporation. The Norden was built at the Air Force's
Rome Laboratory in New York state. The device used a mechanical
analog computer comprised of
motors,
gyros, mirrors, levels, gears, and a small
telescope.
The
bombardier would input the necessary information, such as
airspeed and
altitude, and the bombsight would calculate the
trajectory of the bomb being dropped. Near the target the aircraft would fly on
autopilot to the precise position calculated by the bombsight and release the ordnance. Using this device, bombardiers could, in theory, drop their bombs within a 100-foot (cca 30m) circle from an altitude of well over 20,000 feet (cca 7km). In combat, this accuracy was never achieved - because the Norden had been tested under "artificial conditions" at the US proving grounds, for example in the absence of anti-aircraft fire and/or adverse weather. An additional factor was that the shape and even the paint of the bomb mantle greatly changed the aerodynamic properties of the weapon; and the calculation of the trajectory of bombs that reached supersonic speeds during their fall was an unsolvable problem in those times.
The "Norden" was marketed as
the tool to win the war; and it was often touted that the bombsight would drop bombs in pickle barrels. As noted above, how effective the bombsight was is debated. Some argue that over typically cloud-covered Europe the Norden was nearly useless - which led the British Bomber Command to enter into indiscriminate aerial bombing during the night. However, the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) did both day and night bombing runs depending on the distance, and many veteran B-17 and B-24 bombardiers swore by the Norden (not at it).
In the European theater, the US introduced an "AFCE" or "A. F. C. E."
Automatic Flight Control Equipment radar system called the H2X (Mickey) connected directly to the Norden bombsight. The AFCE served as the mechanical computer "autopilot" of the plane. This proved most accurate in coastal regions, as the water surface and the coastline produced a distinctive radar echo.
Over Japan, bomber crews soon discovered strong winds in high altitudes, the so-called
jetstreams - but the Norden bombsight worked only for wind speeds with minimal wind shear under which testing had been done. Additionally, the bombing altitude over Japan reached up to 30,000 feet; but most of the testing has been done well below 20,000 ft.
In both theaters of war, one vunerability is that when the bombardier auto-piloted the aircraft using the bombsight, the aircraft was more susceptible to anti-aircraft fire and collisions with other allied aircraft.
As a mechanical device, the Norden bombsight used complex machinery consisting of many
gearwheels and
ball bearings which were prone to produce inaccuracies if not properly maintained. In fact, many bombsights were rushed to war use without thorough testing; and often the bombardier had to oil and repair failures himself - for some time into the war equipped and qualified
groundcrew technical staff were just not available in sufficient numbers (see below).
As a critical wartime instrument, bombardiers were required to take an oath during their training stating that they would defend the Norden secret with their own life if necessary. In case the bomber plane should make an emergency landing on enemy territory, the bombardier would have to shoot the important parts of the "Norden" with a gun, disabling it; but as this method still would leave a nearly intact apparatus to the enemy, something like a
thermite gun was installed - the sheer heat of the chemical reaction would melt the "Norden" into a lump of metal.
After each completed mission, bomber crews left the aircraft with a bag which they deposited in a safe ("the Bomb Vault"). This secure facilty ("the AFCE and Bombsight Shop") was typically in one of the base's
Nissen hut support buildings. The Bombsight Shop was manned by enlisted men who were members of a Supply Depot Service Group ("Sub Depot") attached to each
USAAF bombardment group. These shops not only guarded the bombsights but performed critical maintenance on the Norden and related control equipment. This was probably the most technically skilled ground echelon job, and certainly the most secret, of all the work performed by Sub Depot personnel. The
non-commissioned officer in charge and his staff had to have a high aptitude for understanding and working with mechanical devices.
|
Photo of the AFCE and Bombsight shop groundcrew in the 463rd Sub Depot affiliated with the USAAF 389th Bomb Group based at Hethel, Norfolk, England |
As the end of
World War II neared, the bombsight was gradually downgraded in its secrecy; however, it was not until 1944 that the first public display of the instrument occurred.
*Stewart Halsey Ross: "Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II":features a chapter about the bombsights used by the USA. It describes the development, the fallacies, its use and how Germany soon learned about the Norden.
*
Norden Bombsight from the Hill Aerospace Museum
*
Last Combat Use*
U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission*
Additional images and detailed information
