He developed the Norden bombsight that was used during World War II, the Korean War, and for photoreconnaissance missions during the Cold War. Norden developed a gyrostabilized automatic pilot to combat pilot’s problems maintaining constant airspeed and altitude. In 1921, Norden began work on an instrument which could drop bombs from an aircraft and hit targets on land and sea, and in 1928 developed a bomb-timing device. He also designed robot flying bombs, radio-controlled target planes, and catapults and arresting gear used on aircraft carriers. Norden patented control systems for launching aerial torpedoes from ships. War effort, he sold the rights to the government for just one dollar. Sensing how important his invention would be to the U.S. This was not the case for Carl Norden, however. Such an important technological breakthrough would normally earn its creator sizeable financial gains. Military deemed the sight so important that it required the men who used it to guard its secrecy with their lives. Carl Norden’s bombsight was one of the most closely guarded military secrets of World War II.
