[Milsurplus] Milsurplus Digest, Vol 172, Issue 3

Wed Aug 1 20:35:09 EDT 2018

To reply to Mssr. Stinson: Yes, all true. The video by Gladwell is quite good, I truly enjoyed his manner of presentation and he is a good researcher & speaker (engaging). He does not slam the Norden, just explain the times, practices and results. I learned a LOT and recommend it to all. It is worth a view, if only to pick up little tidbits like about the fussy Swiss engineer Carl Norden who became an American and was a devout Christian. He invented the bombsight to save lives by allowing discriminate precision bombing. It cost $1.5 Billion to develop in 1940 timeframe(!!), think of cost in todays dollars $15 Billion ?? It was used to drop a weapon of mass destruction that cost $3 Billion to develop (the A-bomb). I tell you, you guys would like the you-tube, its only like 15 minutes or so  long.

Gladwell says that the Norden was a precision, Swiss designed, analog computer that required manual target acquisition and proper, on the spot, programming. He points out that not all the men trained to operate it had the same skill level in combat.

YMMV
73, Jeff Kruth, WA3ZKR

In a message dated 8/1/2018 3:14:26 PM Eastern Standard Time, milsurplus-request at mailman.qth.net writes:

Message: 3

Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2018 14:06:45 -0500
From: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
To: "'List Milsurplus'" <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Milsurplus] Norden Bomb Sight
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

You know, mechanical computers on battleships were pretty good at delivering a 14-inch-diameter shell miles on-target, under way and in seas. When considering the low on-target rate for bombing using the Norden Sight, one wonders how much could be attributed to design limitations and how much to 18-20-year-old, lightly-trained flight crews, scared out of their wits (as any sane person would be), who just wanted to unload the bombs and get the heck out of there. Not bad-talking the flight crews- I have no right to ?cast shade? on these men. Just trying to understand.
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