Norden bombsight

[rumski]

hey all got this great piece looking to get some info on it like to know if the holder that's attached to it is original I believe it is not sure any help would be appreciated link to pics http://s841.photobucket.com/albums/zz336/mike105_2009/

 

Norden bombsight

[Cobrahistorian]

Looks like you've got a Navy Norden.

[shrapneldude]

If I'm not mistaken, these are pretty tough to find with that holder piece, right?

[piperl4]

being developed by the Navy and later introduced to the Army any Norden can end up in any airplane. I have 12 Norden Bombsights and am only lacking the remington Rand of having one of each manufacture plus the X1 reflex head on 4 of them. I especially like the Victor Adding Machine company ones as there must have been a reason it was selected for the Enola Gay. It also had the reflex head on it. I have seen some of my logs go from Navy to Army and the other way. As far as the mechanics they are the same. The biggest problem is after the war a lot of them were distroyed and data plates removed from them and so in order to make one look legit some guys are taking the stabilizer data plate off and putting it on the bombsight. That is the first thing I look at when buying one. About 50% of the ones on Ebay have bogus data plates on them. The one that has been on and off again 3 times but never sold has a data plate on it that both the date has been removed and the rivits are not the original type I cad rivits so it could not have been put on during WW II as they did not have type II cad plating yet. I just picked up a Norden at the local Army Navy store that he has had for 20+ years and could not figure out why it did not sell. about 90% of the paint was gone and there was a 1/4 inch of dirt and dust on it. I have spent the last 3 days totally rebuilding it inside and out and it spins up like a top now. Not sure how to put pictures on here but will try to post some pictures of some I have rebuilt. If you ever tackle on it is a real sense of satisfaction to get one to spin up when you put the DC to it. However do yourself a favor and break out some parts envelopes and every screw you remove mark down exactly where it came from as there are a number of small and then smaller screws and lengths that are criticle. No one can remember where all those little suckers came from. Also write down the order in which you removed them. Things like the cat eye on the sight light have a special length that only one fits. But it is a challange and a lot of run to build one up and then see it run.

Dave

[piperl4]

Looking for others that are interested in the Norden Bomb Sights. I have managed to get up to 10 in my collection now and have gotten pretty good at restoring them back to at least workable condition. I have included pictures of 6 of my completed ones but I am still missing a Remington Rand manufactured one. The one on the top left took me 3 days to totally restore as every bit of paint was gone and it had a huge layer of dirt and dust on it. It now powers up and the gyro spins up great. I only have 2 Stabilizers so am always looking to trade for more of them. I have only 2 reflex sights and hopefully I can find two more to put on two Victor Adding Machine sights. The Enola Gay had a Victor with a reflex sight and wondered if anyone knew how it was selected. Did they just use an off the shelf sight or did they pick the Victor because it was better than the rest. Rebuilding one can be a challange if you do not organize your work area just right and have a method of sepperation of the screws. There are many places where you can put in the wrong screw and end up short when done. I use envelopes and put all the screws from each part in them and have now taped a picture of where they came from on the front of the envelope. Sounds like a lot of work but when I started doing them even with the TM I quickly learned that my memory was no where good enough to remember where each one came from.

 

Someone was looking for a good Gibson Girl, I have a complete unit with kite, sealed ballon, bag and other parts that I would like to trade for Norden stuff. I also have 20 M1 Garands that I use for trading for Norden stuff. I do buy them from time to time but I would rather trade as it is more fun that way.

[Sabrejet]

I don't have a Norden, but I think I might be able to lay my hands on a pickle barrel!