Item:
ON3564

Original U.S. WWII B-24 Heavy Bomber K-11 Compensating Gun Sight

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. Used in the nose turret of the Consolidated B-24 Heavy Bomber during WW2. The K-11 Compensating Gun Sight was a late war innovation that used the aircraft altitude and speed with the direct correlation of where the weapon was pointed to calculate the reticle. The aircraft altitude and speed was programmed on the rear of the sight. The correlation was determined by drive lines that connected the K-11 Sight to the turret.

Data plate reads:

SPERRY GYROSCOPE CO.

INC. BROOKLYN, NY

K-11

COMPENSATING SIGHT

PART# 655441 SERIAL# 4801

CONT. AC337 INSPECTOR (stamped)

MADE IN USA

Bore sighting instructions on reverse side, appears to be functional and in excellent condition. There is one of these identical sights in the collection at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.

A compensating sight offsets the line of sight only to compensate for the speed of the firing aircraft. The earliest ones were the so-called wind-vane sights of World War I. The most popular AAF compensating sights were the K-10, K-11 and K-13. These sights do not take into account target range, but base their calculation on the angle between the gun line and the aircraft axis, using either two dimensional cams (K-10, K-11) or a mechanical analog (K-13). In these sights the full compensation for own speed is only applied when set to the STRAFE position. In all other situations only a fraction (about 65%) of the full compensation is applied, because in a pursuit curve the attacking aircraft’s speed has a component in the direction of the target’s flight.

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