Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: niklas on September 08, 2002, 04:21:50 PM

Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: niklas on September 08, 2002, 04:21:50 PM: Hi

I always wondered myself why germans mounted the gunsight a bit to the right. There must have been a reason for it. So i came to a conclusion, but i don´t know whether it´s correct.

Gunsights started in WW1 as fixed metal rings. But you can easily test it when you hold something in front of you, a yard away. Either you concentrate on the object and you won´t see a object 200 yards away "clear", or you concentrate on the target and you ll see 2 "gunsights".

So is it possible that germans mounted the gunsight a bit offside, in a way that the pilot only looks with ONE eye through it, what makes it possible to concentrate on a target and see at the same time a single gunsight?

I heard once that modern gunsight project 2 pictures on the HUD, in a way that a pilot can concentrate on a target and each eye recognizes only one picture, resulting in a clear HUD view even when concentrating on targets some hundred yards away. Is this correct?

If so, this raises of course the question how effective were central mounted reflex gunsights in WW2. Could pilot concentrate their view on targets while heaving a clear single gunsight in their view?

niklas
Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: J_A_B on September 08, 2002, 04:26:28 PM: WW2 "reflector" illuminated gunsights did NOT suffer from the "eye focus" problem. They were designed specifically to solve this problem with the older tube or "ring and bead" gunsights.

J_A_B
Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: funkedup on September 08, 2002, 04:59:47 PM: The German sights must have been a pain in the bellybutton for people with a dominant left eye.
Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: Blank on September 08, 2002, 09:55:48 PM: maybe thats why I cant hit jack in a 262,
(from a right handed, left eye dominant person)
Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: Kweassa on September 09, 2002, 08:25:01 AM: I thought it had to do with something with how the sights were twisted and tucked away when not in use.
Title: Re: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: Grendel on September 09, 2002, 12:07:18 PM: Quote
Originally posted by niklas
Hi
So is it possible that germans mounted the gunsight a bit offside, in a way that the pilot only looks with ONE eye through it, what makes it possible to concentrate on a target and see at the same time a single gunsight?

niklas

Correct. It was very easy to look and aim with the gunsight situated a little offset.

Haven't ever managed to ask what the pilots themselves thought about differences between centrally and offset located gunsights though. Damn.

We HAVE asked about the Me gunsights though and the pilots have been most satisfied with it. Too bad I didn't record it to video when we asked that from Kyösti Karhila, the highest scoring living Finnish ace. It was fun animated show when he just smiled broadly and pointed to his right eye :)
Title: how useful is a central mounted ww2 gunsight?
Post by: Glasses on September 09, 2002, 02:14:11 PM: hmm...I've always wondered because I'm a leftie I could shoot hit, and kill, in LW planes, though I'm flying with my right hand...huh go figure.