Re: Radar rangefinders on early jets...

On 24 Apr 2007 19:36:44 -0700, Don McIntyre <DDonSS3@xxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm thinking of jets like the F-84G and F-86. I've seen the radar
described as a "radar range finder" and "gunlaying radar." I've got a
good idea of how they worked, but what sort of display did the pilot
have? Did the pilot dial in a range and then a light came on on the
gunsight when the target was in range? I don't believe there was a
seperate scope for this display, so how was it displayed?

Can't speak with any authority about the F-84, but the "radar ranging"
used by contemporaneous aircraft was simply a boresight radar (one
that looks down the longitudinal forward axis of the aircraft and
provides a range to a target echo. No antenna sweep and no search
capability.

If you check a picture of an F-100 for example, you'll notice a small
fiberglass bulge on the upper-center of the intake. That's the radar
range antenna.

A target in the gunsight is in the field of view of the radar. Range
is detected and the sight is then programmed to depress vertically in
proportion to the input range to allow for proper lead for gunnery.
(Aircraft of the period also usually had a "wing-spanner" capability
in which the width of the target aircraft was compared to a known
wing-span and range was calculated that way.)

Some aircraft offered a ranging display through an "analog bar" that
showed target range as a band around the outer perimeter of the gun
sight. In the F-105 for example, it displayed from the three o'clock
position around the bottom of the sight to the nine o'clock point. A
full bar was about 15,000 feet of range. As you closed on the target
the bar retracted and at six o'clock indicated a 3000 foot range
(about the max recommended for a gun shot.) From six to three o'clock
was a more accurate range and full retraction into the three o'clock
tab occured at 1000 feet or break-away range.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com
.

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