Norden Bombsight

Gift in Memory of John Kushner, 2006.279

The Norden consisted of two major components. First was the sighthead, a gyroscopically stabilized electromechanical computer that computed a bombing solution from true air speed, altitude, heading, and cross-wind (drift) data entered by the bombardier. The airman also had to enter ballistic data, specific to the type of bombs the aircraft carried. The weight, shape, and even the paint on the bomb affected the aerodynamic characteristics of each bomb type. The second component was the stabilizer, an auto-pilot unit that flew the aircraft to the target, constantly correcting its flight path to keep the selected target in the bombsight's crosshair. When the aircraft arrived at the release point calculated by the sighthead, the Norden automatically released the bombs.