article · German
Mechanische Analog-Computer für schwere Flab-Kanonen, ca. 1930–1945: Technische Studien ab historischen Quellen — Funktionsweise des mechanischen Analog-Rechners SPERRY (USA)
A detailed German-language technical study by André Masson of Langenthal examining the internal workings of the Sperry mechanical analog director computer (ca. 1930–1945), acquired on a trial basis by the Swiss Army in 1935. The document explains the follow-pointer operating principle, the polar-to-rectangular coordinate conversion mechanism, cam-body (Formkörper) function solvers, disk integrators, and the electrical servo loop used for iterative impact-point prediction, with comparisons to German (Kommandogerät 36 and 40), British (Vickers), and Hungarian (Gamma-Juhász/Hasler) fire-control directors. The study is based on inspection of the surviving museum specimen at the Flieger-Flab-Museum Dübendorf and on Alfred Kuhlenkamp's 1943 book "Flak-Kommandogeräte."