I would like information on or references which can explain to me how WWII reflector gun sights work.
This question is based on my observation that P-47 razorback Thunderbolts have a windscreen support directly in front of the sight. This being the case, I don’t see how a reflector sight could be used.
That observation leads me to request the general information.
I can find aircraft gun sight sales on the internet but no article on how the sights are calibrated and used or good pictures of the sights used by the USN, USMC and AAF.
Basically, the early reflector sights simply displayed only the stationary graticule on the reflector, which showed where the bullets would go. The pilot had to lead his target – which is why some of the better US pilots were game hunters who had experience with leading their quarry. The gyro sights added a moving graticule that showed where the target should be in order for bullets to hit – removing (in theory) the need to lead the target.
A very informative book is “British Aircraft Armament; Volume 2: RAF guns and gunsights from 1914 to the present day.” by R. Wallace Clarke, published by Patrick Stephens Ltd., in 1994, ISBN 1 85260 402 6. It was £19.99, but, at present, Midland Counties are having a sale, and you could get it a fair bit cheaper.
Incidentally, some gunsights (on the Tempest, for example) shone directly onto the front panel of the windshield, thereby doing away with the reflector screen.
I’m not at home to check my references but the reflector gun sight on the early Razorback P-47’s may have been offset to one side of the center windscreen brace. Just a couple inches would do the trick.
If you consider the dynamic angles involved, it may not matter that a canopy brace was in the center. Only in a condition where the P-47 was directly on the 6 of the target and where both are on the same course would the bracing be a hindrance. And under that condition simply firing blindly would hit the target.
It seems most engagements the target would be to the left or right of the center, not dead ahead.
They are indeed off-set to the right… Same-same with the Revi gunsight on the Me-109… Just a bit of trivia I read once upon a time, the “Old Hands” of the Korean War era that were used to the K-14 type sights often used a piece of tape or even chewing gum on the windscreen for a pipper rather than trying to use the radar gunsights of the era… Gabby Gabreski was one such pilot with the F-86’s sight.