Avro Lancaster – How the Bombsight Mk XIV Worked

In this video, we shall cover the Bombsight Mk.XIV within the Avro Lancaster Bomber. We shall also be covering the Bombsight’s installations within the Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling and the Vickers Wellington Bombers. As always, we shall be referring to wartime Air Ministry Manuals. I’d like to offer my special thanks to the following: New Zealand Bomber Command Association Halifax 57 Rescue Join us, as we take a tour of the Bombsight XIV’s construction and use. As we embark on a journey aimed at promoting UK Aviation Heritage. Textual extracts from Air Ministry Air Publications are Crown Copyright and transcribed with the kind permission of the National Archives, London. All colour diagrams are based on original Air Ministry Air Publications mono illustrations and transcribed into colour by Bryan Atkinson with the permission of the National Archives, London. Thanks must also be given to the following superb organisations for their kind support when Bryan Atkinson originally developed The Lancaster Explored PC CD-ROM back in 2004, all are listed below and are included once again in this series of videos. Lancaster B.Mk.I, PA474. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Lancaster B.Mk.I, R5868. Royal Air Force Museum, London. Lancaster B. Mk.III, DV372. Imperial War Museum. Lancaster B.Mk.X, KB889. Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Lancaster B.Mk.VII, NX611. Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. The Norman Groom & Jeremy Hall Lancaster Nose Sections. The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust. The National Archives, London. The material contained in this video is intended for historical, reference and entertainment value only, and is not to be construed as usable for aircraft or component restoration, maintenance, or use. Consort for Brass - Classical Rousing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-... Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Devon S A (Flt Lt), Royal Air Force official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Short Stirling San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Mosquito Bomber Royal Air Force official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Bomb Aimer Royal Air Force official photographer, No 106 Squadron RAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Vickers Wellington Royal Air Force official photographer, Trievnor J (Fg Off), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Handley Page Halifax Royal Air Force official photographer, Hensser H (Mr), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons #lancasterbomber #avrolancaster #ukaircraftexplored Table of Contents: 00:00 - Introduction 00:43 - An Overview 02:02 - The Simplicity in using the Bomb Sight 02:48 - A General Look at the System 03:29 - The Sighting Head 03:34 - The Graticule 05:33 - The Sighting Head Components 06:13 - The Collimator 08:01 - How the Sighting Plane is Stabilised 08:55 - The Bubble Level 09:11 - The Reflector Protective Cover 09:28 - The Switch Box 10:10 - Sighting Head and Mounting Bracket 10:26 - The Levelling Card 10:33 - Course Indicator Diagram 10:45 - The Sighting Head Gyro 10:53 - Exploded View of Sighting Head 11:03 - The Computor Unit 11:38 - Setting the Computor Unit 12:09 - Levelling Card Location 12:41 - Using the D.R.Compass 13:23 - How the Bombsight XIV Functioned 14:23 - How the Computor Unit Worked 14:42 - The Computor Mechanism 16:17 - The Height Mechanism 16:28 - The Air Speed Mechanism 16:39 - The Wind Mechanism 16:51 - The Drift Mechanism 17:03 - The Ground Speed Mechanism 17:14 - The Sighting Angle Mechanism 17:26 - The Ideal Bombing Angle 18:15 - The Terminal Velocity Mechanism 18:39 - The Computor Unit Construction 19:22 - The Computor Unit Mounting Frame 19:56 - The Control Knobs 20:22 - The Altas Unit 20:47 - The Bellows 21:00 - The Air Drier 21:10 - The Bomb Sight Cock 21:15 - The Circuit Diagram 21:25 - The Avro Lancater Installation 22:01 - The Handley Page Halifax Installation 22:37 - The Short Stirling Installation 22:59 - The Vickers Wellington Installation 23:36 - A Conclusion 24:30 - Special Thanks