Norden Bombsight Research Paper
The Norden Bombsight
By Sterling W Lumpkin
HIST 4910
01 December 2008
[pic] "2nd Lieutenant Everett Glen Hanes poses for a picture with his Norden Bombsight in the nose of his Martin B-26 Marauder of the 9th Air Force, 344th Bomb Group, 497th Squadron" (Text and Photo: Twin Beech)
Introduction
As a High School student, I was privileged to be taught science by a World War II B-17 Bomber Pilot, Mr. Fairbanks, who had a gift for weaving aerospace science into our classes. He also offered a class in Aeronautics, in which he taught what was basically a scaled down ground school. It was in his class where I first heard of the Norden Bombsight, and it was because of the reverence that he held for it (and the B-17) that I 've never …show more content…
and mindful of the fact that I am to become guardian of one of my country 's most priceless military assets, the American bombsight... I do here, in the presence of Almighty God, swear by the Bombardier 's Code of Honor to keep inviolate the secrecy of any and all confidential information revealed to me, and further to uphold the honor and integrity of the Army Air Forces, if need be, with my life itself.
The Bombers Creed served two purposes: Firstly, it reinforced the need to protect the secrets of the bombsight from compromise; and secondly, it seemed to enhance the faith of the aircrews in the equipment. In hindsight, it also turned out to be a great inspiration for those who used it. According to one bombardier, "It was something bigger, I kept thinking, than any one man was intended to comprehend. I ended up with a conviction ... that a bombardier can 't help feeling inferior to his bomb sight." (Budiansky, p174, …show more content…
Tom Ferebee, from the nose of the Enola Gay, a B-29, used Victor 4120, a Norden M-9B, to release the "Little Man" atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 (Twin Beech). The sight remains with the Enola Gay at the National Air and Space Museum 's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington DC. On August 9th, 1945, Kermit Beahan, the bombardier on the Bockscar, another B-29, used a Norden to release "Fatman" over Nagasaki from 31,000 feet. Due to heavy cloud cover, this mission was almost completed using an early radar sight. At the last second though, the clouds opened up just enough to drop the bomb using the Norden (Miller,
By Sterling W Lumpkin
HIST 4910
01 December 2008
[pic] "2nd Lieutenant Everett Glen Hanes poses for a picture with his Norden Bombsight in the nose of his Martin B-26 Marauder of the 9th Air Force, 344th Bomb Group, 497th Squadron" (Text and Photo: Twin Beech)
Introduction
As a High School student, I was privileged to be taught science by a World War II B-17 Bomber Pilot, Mr. Fairbanks, who had a gift for weaving aerospace science into our classes. He also offered a class in Aeronautics, in which he taught what was basically a scaled down ground school. It was in his class where I first heard of the Norden Bombsight, and it was because of the reverence that he held for it (and the B-17) that I 've never …show more content…
and mindful of the fact that I am to become guardian of one of my country 's most priceless military assets, the American bombsight... I do here, in the presence of Almighty God, swear by the Bombardier 's Code of Honor to keep inviolate the secrecy of any and all confidential information revealed to me, and further to uphold the honor and integrity of the Army Air Forces, if need be, with my life itself.
The Bombers Creed served two purposes: Firstly, it reinforced the need to protect the secrets of the bombsight from compromise; and secondly, it seemed to enhance the faith of the aircrews in the equipment. In hindsight, it also turned out to be a great inspiration for those who used it. According to one bombardier, "It was something bigger, I kept thinking, than any one man was intended to comprehend. I ended up with a conviction ... that a bombardier can 't help feeling inferior to his bomb sight." (Budiansky, p174, …show more content…
Tom Ferebee, from the nose of the Enola Gay, a B-29, used Victor 4120, a Norden M-9B, to release the "Little Man" atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 (Twin Beech). The sight remains with the Enola Gay at the National Air and Space Museum 's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington DC. On August 9th, 1945, Kermit Beahan, the bombardier on the Bockscar, another B-29, used a Norden to release "Fatman" over Nagasaki from 31,000 feet. Due to heavy cloud cover, this mission was almost completed using an early radar sight. At the last second though, the clouds opened up just enough to drop the bomb using the Norden (Miller,