How does a gyroscopic gunsight work

Even if so, I don't understand how a radar return is integrated with a gyro instrument. I understand that a gyro can tell you your roll angle and rate of turn in any or all axes, but the main thing I'm missing is how did it know range and position of the target? It seems only radar can do such a thing and I don't know how radar data could be integrated with a gyro way back in the 's.

The wiki article even says that these gyro gunsights were developed "just before the Second World War". But I also noticed the article is not that well-cited. The gun-sight is not much more than an intricate slide-rule. The position of the projection is offset from the guns aiming point according to the gyro factors, the set range, and the fall rate of the ammo.

When the reticule circle lines up with the wingtips of the target you are at the right distance and angle to the target and you push the trigger. It assumes you are following the same flight pattern as the aircraft in front of you. That is..

That makes it fairly limited in use and effectiveness and would be no replacement for a seasoned pilot. Aviators Database. Axis History Forum. Upon watching the video it is apparent that the implication that the aircraft must be following the same flight pattern as the target is misleading. In reality the target reticule, and in effect the pilot's aircraft, needs to be turning at a rate to track the target's flight pattern. Further, the range can be adjusted while continuing to track the target.

That all sounds a bit like rubbing your head while patting your tummy and I am sure took quite a bit of practice and an accommodating target that maintained a constant heading or turn rate in front of you.

Other answers here describe the functionality of such gunsights; the "calculation" was done by mechanical analog computer, made up of gears, cams, shafts, and linkages. Here's part of a Sperry K-3 gunsight computer from a B inherited from my father, who liked collecting strange gadgets, now decorating my kitchen :.

Additional information on the mechanical gunsights and bomb sights of the WWII era can be found here. The assumption was that the flightpath was following the flightpath of the target aircraft, as in a dogfight, therefore the input data was close enough. Personally, rather than "calculated" I expect that some sort of mechanical linkage was moving the floating reticle around based on the relative position of gyro and airplane. The video found by Trevor confirms that this is the case.

As you adjust the K gyroscope gunsight, it automatically gives you the correct lead and shows you the range of the target. Actually, the K contains 2 sights: The compensating sight, and an ordinary fixed electrical sight. In the fixed sight, a cross has been substituted for the pipper.

The fixed sight, may be used alone, but ordinarily the cross is employed with the ring extinguished to show the amount of lead the gyro sight is allowing.

The gyro sight consists of a dot surrounded by six small diamonds. Your problem is to place the dot squarely on an enemy plane by maneuvering your Thunderbolt, and keep him properly surrounded by the six diamonds until you shoot him down.

On the front of the device is a span scale, reading 30 to feet. Set this scale to the wing span of the enemy plane. This forethought might save a couple of seconds at a critical time.

On your throttle is a twist grip. The grip is attached to the sight by cable and pulleys, ending with a range pulley containing a dial calibrated from to feet. When the twist grip is full counter-clockwise, the indicator points to feet on the dial. As you twist the grip clockwise, the indicator shows the range shortening.

As you maneuver to place and keep the dot on the enemy, use the twist grip to adjust the reticle of diamonds, so that the inner points surround him. You must keep the sight on the target for one second before firing to give the sight time to do its work.

Fire a burst of at least two seconds. You may have a tendency at first to use a hexagon formed by inner points of diamonds.

Curb it. Use a circle passing through the inner points. When an encounter is likely, keep your twist grip on the minimum range of feet. Also place it in that setting when shifting from one target to another. Leave the grip in this position, until the dot is on or near the target, then twist the grip to get the proper frame. The conclusion was critical of the moving graticule of the G. Tracking accuracy with the G. Military Wiki Explore. Popular pages. Project maintenance. Register Don't have an account?

Gyro gunsight. Edit source History Talk 0. Hahn, Fritz. Deutsche Geheimwaffen Heidenheim: Erich Hoffmann Verlag, Categories All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia Optical devices British inventions Add category.

Cancel Save. Fan Feed.