[ARC5] Norden Bombsight rant

[Taigh Ramey]

I agree it was over sold but I don't think it was the military. I believe it
was Ted Barth, Carl Norden's business partner and the guy doing the PR, that
said they could hit a pickle barrel from 10,000 feet. I remember reading
about a press interview where he was asked if this was accurate that he
responded 'yes if you tell me which pickle you want me to hit'.

This PR campaign won not only the battle of the bombsights (Norden versus
Sperry) but it was a good thing for the public at the time. We had the
secret Norden bombsight that was going to win the war. A good thing to hold
on to in the bleak early days of WWII. Sort of like the great morale boost
that the Doolittle raid had on the public. 

That PR campaign that was so effective way back then that it is still
provoking conversations today. Quite impressive in itself.

Certainly the Norden bombsight didn't win the war but it made a huge
contribution to the war effort. The current thinking is that it was a bunch
of hype and part of it was. An essential piece of hype for the public in my
eyes. 

I remember watching the Gulf War news where the grainy views from the smart
bombs closing in on the window of the building and thinking 'what's the big
deal'? They were doing the same thing in WWII except the video was much more
clear!

It may not have been as accurate as Barth made it out to be in his PR
campaign but it certainly did its job and it got the job done better than
anything else at the time. 

I might add that it was used in Korea and even in Viet Nam with VO-67.

 

Taigh

 

Taigh Ramey

Vintage Aircraft Inc.

7432 C.E.Dixon Street

Stockton, California 95206

(209) 982-0273

(209) 982-4832 Fax

www.twinbeech.com <http://www.twinbeech.com> 

KEEP 'EM FLYING...FOR HISTORY!

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Brooke Clarke [mailto:brooke at pacific.net]

Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 11:56 AM

To: Taigh Ramey <taigh at twinbeech.com <mailto:taigh at twinbeech.com> >;
milsurplus at mailman.qth.net <mailto:milsurplus at mailman.qth.net> ;
arc5 at mailman.qth.net <mailto:arc5 at mailman.qth.net> 

Subject: Re: [ARC5] Watch out! Norden Bombsight rant incoming...

 

Hi Taigh:

 

I agree with all of what you've said.

But... it was oversold, that's to say the claimed accuracy was no where near
the advertised accuracy.

It was much better than W.W.I, but far from the claims.

What's the name of that bridge in Vietnam?

>From what I've read even today's B-52 with dumb bombs is not that accurate.

This shows up in the bomb damage assessments.

I expect that smart bombs are not as accurate as many people think.

 

--

Have Fun,

 

Brooke Clarke