Bomb sights in wooden boxes x 5 - Help please !

[Tsargood]

Hi All,
First post.
Im usually just a WW1 WW2 Lithgow 303 collector but I have stumbled across something I need help with and hope this is where I can find it.
I have access to a few of these things. A friend of mines Grandfather died and has left a huge shed full of old stuff. Much of it military/aircraft.
There are at least 5 of these things in boxes and Im trying to find out when they date from and what they were used for? Also how much should they be sold for??
Over the next few months other items will emerge from the collection but it will take time to sort through it all as the shed its all in has collapsed on itself and is dangerous at present.
There is literally tons of boxes full of stuff and lots of old army vehicles and airplane parts etc etc.
Sorry for the poor photos but its all I have right now.
Any help much appreciated

 

[A4K]

Searching the net came up with an example of a Course setting bombsight Mk.IXA at the IWM, produced by Novobax Ltd., Watford in 1939.
Thinking she may be from a Bristol Beaufort, which were also produced in Australia.

 

[Airframes]

Course setting bomb sights were standard in all RAF/RAAF/RCAF/RNZAF bombers from the 1930s until late in WW2, when the MkIX optical gyro sight began to enter service. Can't offer any advice on perceived value I'm afraid.

 

[Allan Hunter]

Yes, the picture shows a Course Setting Bomb Sight, although I cannot see if it is a Mk VII or a Mk IX. The date of manufacture can often be seen as the last two digits after the slash mark on the serial number, as in /43 means 1943. I have had several of these sights. I'm actually always looking for spare parts to complete what I have - and I realize this posting is several years old! Prices for these sights depend heavily on condition, as the alloy tended to shed paint and then oxidize, making repainting and restoration a bit of a struggle! The one you've pictured is the type A, for bombers 1939-1945, without the 'moving target attachment', which probably places this one at 1941. Let me know if I can be of more help, or if you have any to sell.
Best wishes, Allan

 

[Crimea_River]

I hope he appreciates your comments - 8 years later!

 

[Allan Hunter]

You never know, Crimea_River! It took me more than eight years to track down some of the things in my collection, so I live in hope. And who knows who else might read the thread? I'm an optimist really......

 

[Allan Hunter]

I'll attach a picture here of my late father, who used the Mk IX bombsight in Beauforts, for Coastal Command. Here he is in late 1940, at West Freugh, with a site - and standing in front of a Fairey Battle. He gives some interesting descriptions of RAF life in his memoir "From Coastal Command to Captivity". Shot down attacking the Scharnhorst in 1941, he spent nearly four years as a POW, much of that time in Stalag Luft III. He retired from the RAF in 1975 as a Wing Commander.

 

[Bolingbroke10070]

Hi All,
First post.
Im usually just a WW1 WW2 Lithgow 303 collector but I have stumbled across something I need help with and hope this is where I can find it.
I have access to a few of these things. A friend of mines Grandfather died and has left a huge shed full of old stuff. Much of it military/aircraft.
There are at least 5 of these things in boxes and Im trying to find out when they date from and what they were used for? Also how much should they be sold for??
Over the next few months other items will emerge from the collection but it will take time to sort through it all as the shed its all in has collapsed on itself and is dangerous at present.
There is literally tons of boxes full of stuff and lots of old army vehicles and airplane parts etc etc.
Sorry for the poor photos but its all I have right now.
Any help much appreciated
View attachment 195320View attachment 195321View attachment 195322

Hi Tsargood. I am wondering if you ever salvaged these Novobax course setting bomb sights from the collapsed building. I have an incomplete unit for my Bristol Blenheim/Bolingbroke and am looking for what you show in the tray in the top of the box. I am in both Minnesota and Wellingborough Northants.

 

[Allan Hunter]

Hi Tsargood. I am wondering if you ever salvaged these Novobax course setting bomb sights from the collapsed building. I have an incomplete unit for my Bristol Blenheim/Bolingbroke and am looking for what you show in the tray in the top of the box. I am in both Minnesota and Wellingborough Northants.

Which parts are you missing, Bolingbroke? I have some spares. The components in the tray can be found from a seller on eBay (no one I know) in the US: eBay item number:375429720348

Best wishes, Allan

 

[Bolingbroke10070]

Which parts are you missing, Bolingbroke? I have some spares. The components in the tray can be found from a seller on eBay (no one I know) in the US: eBay item number:375429720348

Best wishes, Allan

Hi Allan, it is good to meet you. I have what is in the photos. It came with my Bolingbroke project. You can find a group on FB with a ton of photos of the project. My bomb sight is in very good condition with the exception of the compass fluid being gone. I know I am missing some of the wind gauge bars as there is space for three or four more in the tray in the box. (One is installed in the bomb sight with three more in the tray and the tray can accommodate four more). Attached is a list of the four that I have. They are all for fairly low true air speeds.

Some of the height scales are double sided. Some are labeled AK33 through AK36 with the AK36 being the only one single sided. I have one that that has the AK33 info on it but it is labeled 8 on one side and 9 on the other. A list is provided of the ones I have.

I have one that is labeled for mkVII AorC Moving Target. (apparently surplus to my needs).

My sight has the auxiliary drift bar attached.

I know I am missing the leveling bracket otherwise known as "The Spigot" or at least that is what they called it when I talked to the guy that runs the Stanford store for the RAF Museum.

There is a sticker on the inside of the lid that states that "Lanyard Deleted".

I do not have compass corrector key.

I have what appears to be a transcription of the AP on these. I do not know how complete it is. You can see the printout inside the box.

The thing is I don't know what I am otherwise missing. Maybe you can help.

Cheers. Chris

 

[Bolingbroke10070]

Which parts are you missing, Bolingbroke? I have some spares. The components in the tray can be found from a seller on eBay (no one I know) in the US: eBay item number:375429720348

Best wishes, Allan

Hi Allan. An update. I purchased the ebay item you suggested. That auction included three of the Wind Gauge Bars that I did not have and one duplicate. Attached is an updated list. Thank you for the tip. I may still be missing one more. Cheers. Chris

 

[Allan Hunter]

Hi Allan, it is good to meet you. I have what is in the photos. It came with my Bolingbroke project. You can find a group on FB with a ton of photos of the project. My bomb sight is in very good condition with the exception of the compass fluid being gone. I know I am missing some of the wind gauge bars as there is space for three or four more in the tray in the box. (One is installed in the bomb sight with three more in the tray and the tray can accommodate four more). Attached is a list of the four that I have. They are all for fairly low true air speeds.

Some of the height scales are double sided. Some are labeled AK33 through AK36 with the AK36 being the only one single sided. I have one that that has the AK33 info on it but it is labeled 8 on one side and 9 on the other. A list is provided of the ones I have.

I have one that is labeled for mkVII AorC Moving Target. (apparently surplus to my needs).

My sight has the auxiliary drift bar attached.

I know I am missing the leveling bracket otherwise known as "The Spigot" or at least that is what they called it when I talked to the guy that runs the Stanford store for the RAF Museum.

There is a sticker on the inside of the lid that states that "Lanyard Deleted".

I do not have compass corrector key.

I have what appears to be a transcription of the AP on these. I do not know how complete it is. You can see the printout inside the box.

The thing is I don't know what I am otherwise missing. Maybe you can help.

Cheers. Chris

Hello Chris,

You've got a nice example of the Mark IXA, dated 1940 (the last number of the serial sequence shows the date) and now you've got the wind bars as well. Well done!

The spigot is very hard to find because these were usually bolted into the aircraft and the sight itself was lifted in and out as needed, so the spigot tended to stay with the aircraft and so went to the scrapheap with it after long service. I'd like to find one myself! The lanyard is exactly what you'd expect: a thick piece of leather that was anchored inside the aircraft and attached to the sight with a special clip. This was a good precaution if you had an open air arrangement as with, say, the Walrus (where the bomb aimer was leaning outside the aircraft with the sight attached to the outside of his station, in the breeze), but by 1940 most aircraft had the sight inboard. Slower aircraft used the Mark VII sight, which was calibrated for those lower speeds. This made for extremely risky bombing! I cannot imagine having to aim like that. So the lanyard was discontinued when the new sights and aircraft came into use and everything was safely inside the fuselage.

Compass corrector keys occasionally come up on ebay at about $60 each. They'd normally be in the hands of the crew member who 'swung' the compass on the ground, and so they tended to get left behind.

As for the bombing scales, they've tended to get mixed and mismatched over the years, as I've rarely found what I'd call a 'set'. Perhaps this was a function of crew simply taking whichever scale was appropriate for the mission, and then not being careful about putting them back - provided the aircraft actually came back.

I hope this helps. My own sights are packed up just now as the furnace is being replaced or I'd be able to see if there's anything else I've missed. In fact there's a great Youtube video of how the sight works, in all its various details. It's way more complicated than one thinks. According to my late father, though, most of the functions beyond basic bomb aiming were rarely used - there just wasn't enough time!

The Mark IXA sight was for general RAF use. The Mark IXC was specifically for Coastal Command and calibrated in knots rather than Miles per Hour.

Best wishes, Allan