Near Lewistown in Fergus County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Bombsite Storage Building

Lewistown Satellite Airfield Historic District

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 18, 2019

1. Bombsite Storage Building Marker

Inscription. Barbed wire encircled this double-compartment storage building and a 24-hour sentry kept armed guard. The top secret Norden bombsight, a mechanical analog computer, was accessed through bank vault doors, removed carefully for training missions, and returned under armed guard. The 50-pound instrument was used to determine the exact moment a bomb should be released. The bombsight contained 2,000 precision parts. Its accuracy depended upon the bombardier’s ability to correctly calculate speed, altitude, temperature, barometric pressure, and the “bomb curve.” Setting the instrument required such precision that one reporter likened it to playing a violin. Wearing silk gloves so that his fingers wouldn’t stick to the metal and breathing pure oxygen in temperatures reaching 40 degrees below zero, the bombardier crouched in the Plexiglas nose of the aircraft, the worst seat in the house. This is the only identifiable Norden bombsight building still standing in the United States.

Erected by The Montana National Register Sign Program.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists:

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Air & Space • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list.

Location. 47° 2.801′ N, 109° 27.639′ W. Marker is near Lewistown, Montana, in Fergus County. It is on Terminal Drive (U-7103) near West Aztec Drive, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lewistown MT 59457, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically entral Montana in Russell Country. It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Operations and Alert Building (within shouting distance of this marker); Lewiston Satellite Airfield Historic District (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hangar (about 400 feet away); Recreation Building (about 600

Bombsite Storage Building and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 18, 2019

2. Bombsite Storage Building and Marker

feet away); Armament Building (about 700 feet away); Crew Chief Building (about 700 feet away); All Purpose Shop (approx. 0.2 miles away); Pre-War Hangar (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lewistown.

More about this marker. This marker is located at the former Lewistown Satellite Airfield, now the Lewiston Airport.

Also see . . . Norden bombsight -- Wikipedia. Postwar analysis placed the overall accuracy of daylight precision attacks with the Norden at about the same level as radar bombing efforts. The 8th Air Force put 31.8% of its bombs within 300 metres (1,000 ft) from an average altitude of 6,400 metres (21,000 ft), the 15th Air Force averaged 30.78% from 6,200 metres (20,500 ft), and the 20th Air Force against Japan averaged 31% from 5,000 metres (16,500 ft). (Submitted on December 15, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

Bombsite Storage Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 18, 2019

3. Bombsite Storage Building

Norden Bombsite image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Wikipedia

4. Norden Bombsite

Norden bombsight on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, with the autopilot assembly attached.

Norden Bombsight image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Museum of Aviation, March 18, 2016

5. Norden Bombsight

Credits. This page was last revised on December 22, 2019. It was originally submitted on December 15, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 342 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 15, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.