A special thread for our Navy and Air Force vets, aviation buffs, and American Patriots. The following is a list of some images and articles, blueprints and hardware my family has collected regarding the Norden Bombsight That helped defeat the Nazis in WWII. Happy 4th of July !

The Norden Bombsight was I]used in the B29 and B17 bombers in WWII. It allowed the bombardier to control the plane and navigate it to the target of the crosshairs. They then would release the bombs. This is the view of the bombardier.

This is a view through the Bombsight; the cross hairs were actually hairs, of perfect width from a woman. I have an article from 1990 celebrating her contribution to the Navy’s aviation success.

Once on target, the bomb bays open, after the munitions are prepped. These are some photos of bomb bay preparations, and the bomber bays open mid flight:

Have you ever heard the whistle when a bomb drops? It’s actually a “whine” from a small propeller on the fuse of the bomb that spins as the bombs drop. The bombs were manually armed mid flight before the bombs were released.

When released the bombs would cascade from the bomber. The Norden Bombsight was lauded as being so accurate it could drop a pickle in a barrel. Here are some photos I own showing the moment of release. Some bombers crashed into one another and some mistakenly were hit with bombs.

The Bombsight may well have been accurate; however there was no time for killing pickle barrels. The Allies favored carpet bombing vs precision due to the anti-aircraft defense, and cunningness of the Axis by hiding their factories, defenses and munitions. Photos of bombings:

The most infamous use of the Norden Bombsight was during the final assault on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Norden Bombsight guided the “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” atomic bombs to their destinations, eventually resulting in Japanese surrender. This is an image of Fat Man, signed....

...by the crew of the Enola Gay B29 Super Fortress. It was named after Paul Tibet’s mother. He was the pilot.

The road to victory was not smooth; it was littered with spies, and deception on domestic soil. The Germans had spies working for Carl Norden, many of whom were caught trying to communicate our design secrets. These two were caught “defrauding” the US Govt:

I have the privilege of owning some of the original prints with errors or typos. They are drawin on Egyptian cotton with indigo ink and I have preserved them under museum glass.

I own a Bombsight that was procured from an aviation junkyard out west. There are many “out there”, and many are still 100% functional. The crosshairs is still visible.

The remaining posts in this thread are miscellaneous articles I’ve collected varying in date from 1943 to the mid 1990’s related to the Norden Bombsight or related WWII events. Enjoy and God Bless America !