Bombsight
Videos
A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then mo
An early bombsight, 1910s
1923 Norden MK XI Bombsight Prototype
The way the line of bombs falling from this B-26 goes towards the rear is due to drag. The aircraft's engines keep it moving forward at a constant speed, while the bombs slow down. From the bomber's perspective, the bombs trail behind the aircraft.
US Navy dive bomber pilot flying the airplane at an angle of about 75°.
Norden bombsight
Videos
The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in US Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United Sta
Bombsight
…the performance needed to solve the equations of motion started to be incorporated into the new tachometric bombsights, the most famous of which is the Norden. Then, in World War II, tachometric bombsights were often combined with radar systems to allow accurate bombing through clouds or at night. When postwar…
The Norden bombsight at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. This example is only the bombsight itself; it does not include the associated autopilot that would normally connect to it on the bottom.
Norden bombsight on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, with the stabilizer assembly attached
A Norden bombsight in the nose of the B-29 FIFI