June 12-13, 2019 Edged Weapon, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/13/2019
There has been more movies depicting the importance of this bomb sight that just about any other single subject. The men operating these sights swore a death oath to destroy them if downed in enemy territory. They were used through-out the war in both the European Theater as well as in the Pacific and were the sights used to drop the worlds first Atom Bomb. One of Germany's top priority was acquiring this sight and one of the largest German spy rings involved a spy who worked at the factory. It was the canonical tachometric design, a system that allowed it to directly measure the aircraft's ground speed and direction, which older bombsights could only estimate with lengthy in-flight procedures. The Norden further improved on older designs by using an analog computer that constantly calculated the bomb's impact point based on current flight conditions, and an autopilot that let it react quickly and accurately to changes in the wind or other effects.
This sight comes with a custom wood stand for display and does not include the auto-pilot attachment but otherwise complete. Very few of these ever left the factory unless installed in a plane and were such a highly guarded secret that it was only after a better model was introduced well after the war that a civilian could own such an item. A very rare and historical icon.
Item Dimensions: 16" x 14" x 8 - 1/2".