Amazing video. Thx from Germany. 🙏 Here are some lines regarding the German efforts when it comes to Norden vs Lotfe 7… "After hundreds of Norden-equipped bombers were shot down over enemy territory during 1943, Allied officials knew that the Germans had surely studied the bombsight and learned its secrets. As a result, security was finally relaxed. When the war ended, details of the ingenious device were finally made public. But U.S. intelligence experts received a shock when they interrogated Luftwaffe personnel: The Germans had known the bombsight’s secrets even before the war, thanks to a spy at Norden. Herman W. Lang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had been employed as a draftsman and inspector at the Norden factory during the 1930s. American authorities didn’t know that he had served as Nazi stormtrooper in Germany between 1923 and 1927. Recruited as a member of the Duquesne Spy Ring, in 1938 Lang gained access to the plans for the bombsight and hand-copied the blueprints, which were then smuggled to Germany via ocean liner. He traveled to Germany for a “vacation” to assist Luftwaffe technical experts, receiving 10,000 Reichsmarks for his efforts. Lang returned to his job in America, but was later betrayed by a double agent, convicted of espionage and sentenced to 18 years in prison. The Germans built a mock-up of the Norden sight and compared it to the new Lotfernrohr 7, or Lotfe 7, bombsight then being used by the Luftwaffe. The Lotfe 7 was similar in operation to the Norden, but much simpler and easier to operate. It consisted of a single metal casing holding the majority of the mechanism, with a tube extending out the bottom containing a mirror that reflected the image of the target into a small telescope in the box. The mechanisms within combined the functions of the Norden’s stabilizer and optics, moving the mirror to stabilize the image, as well as tracking the target. The Lotfe 7’s controls were also simpler than the Norden’s, consisting mainly of three large knobs to adjust aim. The Luftwaffe decided their Lotfe 7 was better than the Norden and gave the American device no further consideration. So despite years of extraordinary efforts by U.S. military and civilian authorities to keep the Norden bombsight secret, America’s secret weapon was never secret-except to the American public. U.S. Air Force veteran C.G. Sweeting [is a former] curator for the National Air and Space Museum,… www.historynet.com/not-so-secret-weapon-the-norden-bombsight/
Hi, fantastic video! I have an immaculate new old stock Sperry T-1, and I'm looking for new or original flexible drive cables and a power cable for the internal lighting. Have you used modern equivalents, and if so, what type are they and where did you locate them? And if vintage, likewise - any part numbers would be fantastic to know. Hope you can help!
Thank you sir. Very informative indeed. Years ago I had a WWII navigation manual that made reference to several drift meters but lacked the details you have just covered. I wonder if the drift meter could be used over water also, observing the sea in calm or moderate conditions if the sea surface could provide a reference during daylight for the drift meter ? While not related to the subject of drift meter, I read of a B-17 which took off from a Pacific island. That plane actually ran out of fuel when they failed to make landfall and had to ditch at sea. They were rescued and the following investigation revealed that unknown to the pilots or crew an aircraft mechanic admitted he had welded a piece of metal armour plate behind each seat in the cockpit for their protection. The aircraft magnetic compass was never swung or corrected for the deviation caused by the armour. The navigator using the compass only with no other means for direction and no radio beacons was led astray, resulting in a serious situation when island hopping over shark infested waters of the South Pacific.
@@Wistarmo thank you! Lets hope it is a real machine - it is a carl norden made but it seems that it was never modified or used. (no big serial # on side, data book is blank)
While the technology was 'borrowed' from the Norden, the Lotfe 7 was far simpler to operate. When the Germans finally obtained an actual Norden (presumably from a downed USAAF bomber) they did not think it necessary to copy it anymore.
An amazing lecture. What a complex procedure to get the aircraft lined up on the target and timing the bomb drop. It's amazing they ever hit the target.
This is a nice video. Legend has it that the magnetic poles are more than a thousand miles from the physical poles. And also, that the physical poles contain huge openings into the other side of the earth, which is covered with thousands of square miles of dense forest. They say that the Northern lights are not an electrical phenomenon. The little sun in the center of the Earth is simply shining. And they also say that a different group of people live on the interior surface of the Earth, and that they want a maximum of three billion humans on our side. Or perhaps nobody on our side.
Thanks for this, I have the earlier unit with a 1944 serial number. I had no idea this was used along with the fluxgate system. Ive never opened mine. I have the whole system except for the amplifier for the fluxgate
I just purchaseded an Astro Compass MkII from Ebay. The one I received has hours with 10min divisions for LHA instead of degrees. Are you familiar with this variation? Do you know who it may have been made for? The hour band appears to be applied over the degrees.
@@Wistarmo Thanks for getting back to me. I also can find no information on this variant. The instructions that came with it seem to be for the standard degree version.
Make a conversion from arc to time either mathematically or using conversion tables. You know 15 degrees every hour, 1 degree in 4 minutes, 15 minutes of arc in 1 minutes etc.
Hi Wistarmo, Thank you very much for your quality content! Using the LotFe in flight sims and pressing some keys on my keyboard, I never understood how it really worked and was operated. I was wondering whether you know which LotFe versions were used in the He 111 H-6 and Ju 88 A-5?
Since making this video, I have discovered how the autopilot interfaces with the bombsight for turn and drift, and it's rather complicated. I have not had a chance to make an updated video. Other than that, the video is correct. From Deutschelufwaffe.com: Lotfe versions in the following aircraft types:Lotfe 3D - He 111 H-2, H-6. Lot 7 - Ju 88. Lot 7A- He 111 H-5. Lotfe 7B- unknown! Lot 7C - Arado 234 , Ju 88. Lotfe 7D - Ju 88 , Arado 234 C-3, Fw 200 C-3 / U2, C-4, C-6. Lotfe 7H - Ju 88 , He 111 ?, Fw 200 C, Me 262 A-2a / U2 with a lying bombardier in the fuselage. Lotfe 7K - Arado 234 B-2 ?, C-3 ?, C-5 Me 262 A-2a / U2Lot 7K-2 - Me 262A -2a / U2.
It appears plenty challenging to operate this device in a warm living room - imagine using it in freezing cold and under attack by defending fighters and AA guns.
Interesting video. I ran into one of these at an antiques show, so, I'm doing research to see what it was for. The unit was there, in it's box, and a light bulb was there in a container, but all the films where missing.
A set of films is quite rare. The film was acetate based and deteriorates over time. When you open the cans, you can smell the acetic acid, and that is why the deterioration is called "vinegar syndrome". The only way to stop it is to refrigerate it or even freeze it. Good luck in your search.
You can download a copy of the Air Almanac here: bookstore.gpo.gov/products/air-almanac-year-2019. ezAlmanac is an app for the iPad but the tables can be downloaded here: ezcelestial.com/ezAlmanac/ezAlmanac.html. You can find an Astro Compass manual here to help you determine the functions and how it should work: www.timetravelair.com/techlibrary/EO%2020-45GA-2.pdf
Very nice info video with one exception. Navigation (aerial) is always done in TH (True Heading) and not MH (Magnetic Heading). To be clear, the outcome or product of the Astro C , I think, is to provide an azimuth in TH (corrected for magnetic deviation) terms. Don't get lost!
Thanks for the excellent demonstration. Did Nazi Germany then benefit from the Norden sight design features before the British? p.s. type in DeepL for difficult technical translations help.
Yes. I cannot tell for certain how much of the Norden information was used to design the Lotfe 7 bombsight. Herman Lang did not take blueprints, only his verbal and hand drawings. The US never did share Norden information with the British. There was actually a "Tizard Mission" to the US by British Diplomats in 1940 to try and request American technological help with wartime efforts, but the Norden was not shared. The US was concerned that if the British had it, it might fall into German hands. Thank you for the DeepL information. Will give it a try.
Long after WWII my father described working on this bombsight while employed at Sperry Gyroscope Company (4014 1st Ave, Brooklyn, NY). After graduating from Brooklyn Polytechnic High School with a degree in machine tool making (equilivant to at least a Junior College Degree today) he joined Sperry on June 9, 1941 making $26.19 per week after taxes and union dues. Dad said after they completed work on the S-1 bombsight all of the machinists who were working on this project lost their war deferrment as critial workers & were drafted as a group. His last pay check was dated Jan 12th, 1944 and was for $43.08. He and the rest of the Sperry crew were trained to repaire the heavy artillary pieces (155mm & 8" cannons) and were assined to the 548th Heavy Ordanance Company & fought in Europe. Do you think this date (Jan 12th) corresponds to last days of production of this bomesight?
Just stumbled across this while researching the Norden Bombsight and I'm amazed by your setup and demonstration. Just amazing and I hope you don't mind me sharing it with my aviation and RC buddies. You seem like the perfect person to ask about this... I'm looking for detailed dimensions for the Norden so I can 3D model it and print it for a large scale RC project. Do you have any idea where these details can be found?
Sorry to be so late in reply; I just saw your inquiry. I am afraid I don't have precise dimensions. You might find this useful: www.stlfinder.com/model/norden-bombsight-3d-model-EGQHxOm5/7726455
Wistarmo, Wow! I never thought I would find such impressive documentation of the operation of this sight. Showing it actually working is a real accomplishment. My interest in this device is the result of studying the wartime activities of the Argus Camera Company in Ann Arbor. They mostly did optical production for the War Department, but also some radio and avionics assembly. Mostly this was for Bendix Radio, but they also did some work for Delco, who did work for Sperry. In 1945, Argus published pictures of many of the things they had made during WW2. One of the pictures shows what they labeled as a "multiplier mechanism" which (as shown and explained so well in your video) is actually the "drop angle indicator" for the T-1. Thank you!
