ar234 question

[lyric1]

Side view of a Lotfe 7K bomb sight like the one used on the AR-234.

[lyric1]

Side view of a Lotfe 7K bomb sight like the one used on the AR-234.

(Image removed from quote.)

Well this is about as good as it gets found a link with pictures in the crates of a Lotfe bomb sight & the BZA dive computer. Now just to figure out where on the aircraft the BZA fitted. Inside the periscope fin maybe?

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4077832

A link to a hand book portion on the 234.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bb1ywW6WjIkC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=bza+bomb+sight&source=bl&ots=tyW0wtL85q&sig=oY0j9Rb79tb5wpk5TF_ZbRBm8Jg&hl=en&ei=x0L9TfGcH4LY0QHuneXQAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=bza%20bomb%20sight&f=false

[lyric1]

Looking at all the pictures I would say the Lotfe 7k sits on top of a housing specific for the AR-234 like the second picture listed below. This housing is clearly for a different type of aircraft & then the BZA is stored in side of that housing.







Some of the photos I have clearly show a similar housing on the Smithsonian AR-234 like the one above. You can see the top of the housing I marked in red.



Any one know how the BZA dive bomb sight actually works?

[EagleDNY]

OK - this thread has convinced me that we need to lose the 2x20mms option on the 234.  I would like to see some kind of bombsite modification that allowed us to try dive bombing in it though.

[lyric1]

OK - this thread has convinced me that we need to lose the 2x20mms option on the 234.  I would like to see some kind of bombsite modification that allowed us to try dive bombing in it though.

Well at least the rear ward guns. I would like to see the forward gun package added under perk for ords. Big yes on the dive bombing ability.

[lyric1]

The above picture that has some writing on the scope that has <-HAND  BZA-> BZA was the computer/sighting method used for dive bombing I believe this is the lever/mechanical device that would flip the view from the front to the rear. Here is a few pictures that show a round bit of metal attached that I would say the pilot would grab to pivot it forward & back.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

There is two electrical switches on the left side of the periscope & I would guess one is for turning on the forward periscope & a switch for the computer? Can't find anything yet that shows exactly what switch did what so if any one can offer a better answer I would like to hear your thoughts.

Well after some review I believe I am wrong about the handle being used to flip the view back & forth from front to rear on the AR-234 periscope. As you can see with the Stuvi dive bomb sight it to has a switch for HAND & BZA also. Since the stuvi was not used in a periscope configuration to change views to the best of my knowledge it seems logical on the AR-234 the same would apply.

Stuvi sight & HAND/BZA switch.



AR-234 HAND/BZA switch.


So if the BZA divebombing sight has two options HAND & BZA & the BZA is for the computer to control in a shallow dive & keep in mind to control the aircraft while in the dive as the pilot had to disengage the yoke.
Would it mean that the HAND option is for dive bombing to be done in manual mode so the pilot & not the computer has complete control? If so this would solve a number of issues if we get a remodel by HTC as they would only need to have the forward facing periscope programmed instead of some kind of calibration type mode with the BZA sight.

Now the two switches on the left side of the periscope one must be an on/off switch & I am going to guess the smaller of the two. The larger switch should be for switching the periscope view back & forth? Or possibly the other way around.



BZA test results by Arado.





If any of our German friends care to make sense of the above documents for the rest of us that would be nice.

[lyric1]

Just wanted to add this link to help round out some things with the periscope.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,325508.0.html

[lyric1]

If you can read German you will like this.

http://www.4shared.com/office/yJjgC6-w/ARADO_AR_234_DER_ERSTE_STRAHLB.html

[VonMessa]

If you can read German you will like this.

http://www.4shared.com/office/yJjgC6-w/ARADO_AR_234_DER_ERSTE_STRAHLB.html

 

[SectorNine50]

This is really cool to see, thanks lyric!

[lyric1]

This is really cool to see, thanks lyric!

My pleasure.

Hopefully some of our German speaking clientele can help with some of the information in that book to help with a future remodel of the AR-234-B.

The dive bombing computer & how the periscope worked together with that computer & things of that nature. Plus other information that would make the AR-234-B a much more interesting aircraft to fly in AHII.

[Zeagle]

 

[Rich52]

The 234 is one of the truly great aircraft of AH. Pity we dont have more interested in mission flying in it.

[Charge]

AFAIK there was no system which had the complete control of a/c for sighting purposes. The BZA was merely a computer which made calculations according to inputs and it was pilot's job to keep the pipper on top of target during the dive. Even the pull-up automation merely controlled only the trim input upon pull-up so that the plane had a tendency to pull-up whether or not the pilot pulled the yoke.

What I'm interested in is whether there was a possibility to enter all the parameters by hand when at target area since I understand that some of the parameters were set prior to take-off according to conditions of target area such as barometric data.

-C+

[icepac]

The 234 is one of the truly great aircraft of AH. Pity we dont have more interested in mission flying in it.

I chased one down from 25,000 feet in 5 sectors using a yak9.