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Norden M9 bombsight and drift meter


matthew123
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  • 4 weeks later...

What does a M9 cost these days, I have always wanted one and never seen one sold or really looked into the cost. I heard several thousand and thats about it. Very nice display!

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dave peifer

check for nomenclature plates,the grey tray is attributed to navy nordens..............dave

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matthew123

What does a M9 cost these days, I have always wanted one and never seen one sold or really looked into the cost. I heard several thousand and thats about it. Very nice display!

I've seen them on ebay for around $2000.... with transport plate

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matthew123

check for nomenclature plates,the grey tray is attributed to navy nordens..............dave

 

My old eyes make out serial # L-129418, Order # .4-5107-P

 

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matthew123

check for nomenclature plates,the grey tray is attributed to navy nordens..............dave

 

 

check for nomenclature plates,the grey tray is attributed to navy nordens..............dave

 

I think a picture is worth a thousand words in this case... Serial # L-9418 Order # 44-5107-P

post-162395-0-43388100-1462315583.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

What does a M9 cost these days, I have always wanted one and never seen one sold or really looked into the cost. I heard several thousand and thats about it. Very nice display!

 

I bought my complete M9B setup over a period of 10 years....about 1971-81. Cost for everything was about $400 in period dollars. Sold the complete operational system, as shown in the photos, on Ebay, to the group that became DOC's friends. That was in 2005 and the price was $2,750. At the time, I considered that a good price.

 

As many on this forum site know, DOC, the second operational B-29 in the world, made it's first post-restoration flight about two weeks ago. This Norden system was purchased for installation in that aircraft.

 

post-162703-0-35549000-1470111889.jpg post-162703-0-77885300-1470111902.jpg

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Look's great... keep'em flying.

 

I father was a crew chief on B-17s and B-29s ... Bell lifting body at Wright Paterson, ended up servicing Hueys and F-15s as a mechanic at Edwards AFB

 

.

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I had an offer of $2000 for my M9-B and the mounted driftmeter, but he's up in San Francisco, and I'm still near Edwards.

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  • 2 months later...

All Norden bombsights were sold to the Navy by Carl Norden, and there is usually an anchor stamped on the front below the little tachometer insertion site; it appears yours may have been painted over. Even if the bombsight was made for the USAAF, it had to be procured from the Navy. In addition to the Norden factory, there were four other manufacturers of these bombsights, and one was Lukas Harold. This was a subsidiary of Norden located at the Bureau of Ordinance facility in Indiana. Carl Norden's middle name was Lukas, and his business partner Theodore Barth's middle name was Harold, hence the nomenclature. So this is a USAAF Lukas Harold sighhead, with a serial number that begins with "L"; I have one that is serial # L-6352. Having restored a number of these to full working condiion, based on the pictures your sighthead could be made to work as intended. As far as the drift meter goes, here is a video of some drift meters I have restored and how they work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nthSD3tNVxw. The bottom has fallen out of the Norden bombsight market at this point; I just purchased a fully overhauled one for less than a thousand dollars. I would hold on to it until prices rebound, as a really good sighthead used to go for at least $2000. I can provide more information if you desire.

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