arthur@Eng.Sun.COM (Arthur Leung) (10/25/90)
From: arthur@Eng.Sun.COM (Arthur Leung) howdy - please excuse any non-conformance to the rules as this is my first posting here. i was wondering about the development of the lead computing optical sight used in air gunnery. when were these sights developed? i often see pictures of WWII aircraft (especially late Mustangs) with a projection plate similar to the HUD glass used today. (earlier Mustangs had ring and bead sights.) were these sights lead computing? if so, what drove the optics? for today's gunnery sights, are the optics driven with radar input? or are all the sights of this type driven by accelerometers and gyros? thanks, -- arthur ----- End Included Message -----
cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) (10/29/90)
From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) >From article <1990Oct25.152148.2396@cbnews.att.com>, by arthur@Eng.Sun.COM (Arthur Leung): > > i was wondering about the development of the lead > computing optical sight used in air gunnery. when > were these sights developed? > > were these sights lead computing? if so, what > drove the optics? Here is what I remember about the Mk52 director used for 5" mounts: This system had a radar for range only - an operator matched a cursor to the blip on an A-scope to get range. This was fed to the director as an analog signal. The director operator put an illuminated circular reticle on the target, and tracked the target manually. The "computer" had gyroscopes to measure angular motion in elevation and azimuth. The lead angle was computed by high-precision mechanical integrators (like planimeters) which deflected the mirrors which projected the reticle. The sight worked like a primitive version of the HUD, but all electro-mechanical. There was no magnification in the optics. When the director operator had the target in the reticle, tracking smoothly, he squeezed the key, and the 5" mount fired as fast as the gun crew could load - about 1 round every 10-15 sec. I only tried this once. Couldn't hit shit, but great fun. This was technology developed to defeat Japaneze Kamikaze attacks. Similar sights were applied to the 40 mm and 20 mm mounts. Totally inadequate against jets.