https://www.isegoria.net/2011/12/a-true-dive-bomber/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Thu, 21 May 2026 16:19:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 https://www.isegoria.net/2011/12/a-true-dive-bomber/comment-page-1/#comment-394772 David Foster Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:01:57 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=27383#comment-394772 Wondering what a “contact altimeter” is? Obviously it would be best to use a radar altimeter, which measures true height above terrain, but that seems unlikely in 1939. Quick googling suggests that it was actually an ordinary barometric altimeter with a presetting feature. The pilot would have had to guess the ground height about sea level, or estimate it from a chart, and would also have had to have the altimeter set to the proper setting, which differs with weather conditions. I doubt that the opposition would have been providing altimeter settings, so they would have had to get it from their nearest friendly forces.

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