1950's Electro-Mechanical Bendix Aviation Computer

[atilla457]

Apologize if this was shared before (search didn't provide any mentions).

If you are amazed by how human beings pushed limits, this is a good read + pictures about the internals of Bendix Air Data Computer used to calculate aviation data in fighter planes. Kudos to the engineers of those times.

https://www.righto.com/2023/10/bendix-ca...ering.html

Intro paragraph from the blog:

Quote:How did fighter planes in the 1950s perform calculations before compact digital computers were available? The Bendix Central Air Data Computer (CADC) is an electromechanical analog computer that used gears and cams for its mathematics. It was used in military planes such as the F-101 and the F-111 fighters, and the B-58 bomber to compute airspeed, Mach number, and other "air data".

It might be worth for us to look into a possible "HP 48GC" for gears and cams version...

[dm319]

Goodness, I can hardly comprehend how that was designed/made/used! I have bookmarked it to have a look in some detail later. I love Ken Sherriff's blog - I first came across his reverse engineer of the 8086 adder, which also blew my mind.

[rprosperi]

(12-04-2023 09:05 PM)atilla457 Wrote:  Apologize if this was shared before (search didn't provide any mentions).

If you are amazed by how human beings pushed limits, this is a good read + pictures about the internals of Bendix Air Data Computer used to calculate aviation data in fighter planes. Kudos to the engineers of those times.

https://www.righto.com/2023/10/bendix-ca...ering.html

Intro paragraph from the blog:

Quote:How did fighter planes in the 1950s perform calculations before compact digital computers were available? The Bendix Central Air Data Computer (CADC) is an electromechanical analog computer that used gears and cams for its mathematics. It was used in military planes such as the F-101 and the F-111 fighters, and the B-58 bomber to compute airspeed, Mach number, and other "air data".

It might be worth for us to look into a possible "HP 48GC" for gears and cams version...

In a tangential coincidence, Convair engineers working on the same B-58 Hustler are responsible for developing the CORDIC algorithms used in the early HP calculator models. Though technically an impressive plane, it was hugely expensive to operate and only remained in service 1960-1970. The engineers that created it probably had no idea the technology they were creating to build a strategic nuclear bomber would have such long-term impacts on computing devices for the mainstream public.