[Corey]
[man 1] It's a Sperry Bombsight from World War II.
[Corey] Um, when I think of a bomb site,
I think of, like, a vast piece of desert.
[chuckles]
No, he's talking about sights on a gun.
-[whistling] -[explosion]
[man 1]
to sell my Sperry Bombsight.
I found this thing at a garage sale
and I paid only $10 for it.
I was hoping for $5,000
but I'd take $1,000 for it.
[Rick] So, where did you get this?
[Stephen] Well, believe it or not, I got it at a...
garage sale of all things. [chuckles]
Do you know anything about it?
[Stephen] Uh, basically they were developed
during World War II
to guide the bombs down.
The government spent $8,000 each
on these in 1942.
[Rick] It's not just a piece of glass that looks straight down.
Remember, you have a plane at 20,000 feet,
going 200 miles an hour, and when they drop the bomb,
the bomb is going 200 miles an hour.
So, it was pretty hard to get an accurate reading
of where that bomb was gonna land until they came up
with these super high-tech bombsights.
The Allies dropped millions of tons of bombs
during World War II.
But they didn't have guidance systems
like they have today.
So, dropping them accurately was really tough.
A bombsight had to factor in air speed,
altitude and a lot of other variables.
It was a really complicated machine.
[Corey] So, how does it work?
[Rick] There is different inputs in here
for your altitude, your speed,
wind direction, the size of the bombs
and a bunch of things like that.
Well, you look in this glass for...
five mils...
per division,
whatever the hell that means.
This is...
range 100 yards.
Quit messing with it.
-You know I'm looking at it. -I will call Mark.
-I'm not hurtin' it. -Excuse my dad.
It drives him crazy when he can't figure something out.
My son can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.
I mean, how can you not be curious
about something like this.
I've never had one on my shop
so, I got a feeling it could be incredibly rare
and valuable.
What do you wanna do with it?
I was hoping to sell it.
My wife wants it out of the house ASAP.
Any idea on what you're looking to get?
I was hoping to get, like, 5,000 for it.
I mean, it looks neat. It's really odd.
It's really interesting.
but I gotta figure out exactly what it is.
I've got a buddy who probably knows
everything there is to know about this.
Let me give him a call and... see if he'll come down here
-and check it out. -I appreciate it.
What are you looking at?
I'm trying to figure it out.
[Rick]
It could be one of those rare pieces
that collectors go crazy for.
Or it might not even be a bombsight.
I'm dying to find out.
So, how are you doing today?
The guys normally call me down
when they have something that they're not quite sure
what it is or how it was used, and I'm...
quite happy to come down and give them a hand.
I dare you to guess what this is.
Give me a moment here.
[Mark] What did you think it was?
Well, he said he looked it up and it's a bombsight.
I know it's got a lot of inputs for things like that on there.
[Mark] Yeah, it does.
It is by this very gyroscope company.
They did make bombsights
and it is an early mechanical computer.
But...
it's not a bombsight.
There we go. [chuckles]
[Mark] A bombsight was much more involved
-even than this, -Okay.
But...
it is part of a World War II...
bomber aircraft system.
This is a compensating mechanism.
This was used in the upper turret
of a B-26 or B-24.
And it worked with the double 50 calibers
that were in the gun turrets.
This was part of the mechanism that you used
to make sure that the guns were set up
so that, when the twin-guns rounds come together,
that's where the plane is that you're trying to hit.
So, it is a piece of a bomber,
but no, it's not a bombsight.
For doing what it did,
this was very important.
For World War II technology,
this was advanced.
This was a necessary piece
'cause the level of calculation that you had to do
was not something you could do in your head.
This was needed to help the gunners be accurate
in what they were firing at.
You can actually see the insides
and the many gears...
and mechanisms in there. It's incredible.
[Mark] What you're looking at is what you've got
in your pocket calculator now, but it's all mechanical.
These were hugely expensive
'cause this was all done by hand.
Somebody sat down and this is what they did all day.
They built these things.
[Rick] That's amazing.
Does anybody collect this kind of stuff?
It's an awfully specialized area.
Most people that would be looking for this
would be somebody trying to restore a B-24 or B-26,
and there's not a lot of those out there.
-Thanks for coming in, man. -No problem.
-Glad I could help. -Thanks a lot.
[Rick]
They'll pay big money
for a World War II bombsight, but other stuff
from a bomber is just not collectable.
But, hey. I think it's pretty cool.
It's the kind of thing I love to tinker with.
There's a lot of parts here I think I could use
just for some of the stupid little stuff
I got going on in my garage.
Well, make me an offer.
Fifty bucks.
I can't do it.
I hate to part with it.
[tense music]
Didn't you say your wife wanted to get rid of it?
Yeah, she didn't want it in the house. Dust collector.
Well, how much would you take?
A thousand.
Have fun pissing off your wife.
[laughs]
-[Stephen] Take care, man. -[Rick] Thanks, man.
I was really disappointed it wasn't a bombsight.
It's gonna aggravate the wife,
but it's a piece of history and I'll never find one again.