AIRCRAFT SEXTANTS

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NAVY MARK V SEXTANT (AN 5851-1)

An extremely versatile sextant. It is particularly suitable for marine use, can be used in aircraft; and is perfect for back yard practice. Its great versatility lies in the fact that it is a combination marine and air-craft sextant. As such, it utilizes both an artificial (bubble) horizon, and a visible (sea) horizon. The bubble horizon is most useful on land when a sea horizon is not available. It does, however, require dark adapted eyes at night since the radium illumination has diminished over the years. The Mark V includes: a 2x telescopic optical path, a selectable astig-matizing lens, and 4 sun filters. The elevation scale reads from -10° to +100°. A fine scale micrometer drum indicates to 2 minutes of arc with interpolation easily possible to within less than one minute. The sextant is made mainly of brass and aluminum. The Mark V was manufactured with some models incorporating a chronometric averager. The averager records 60 different readings over a two minute period and supplies an average reading. It was designed for use aboard aircraft where accelerations produce errone-ous bubble positions. Sextant weight with the averager installed is 6 lbs., and without the averager is 4 1/2 lbs. Because of the weight pen-alty, we recommend the non-averaging model for marine use. The Sextant comes in freshly, overhauled condition, with comprehen-sive instruction manual, and calibration report. It does not come with a carrying case. SW 7 lbs.

Navy Mark V with Averager #1502 $900Navy Mark V without Averager #1503 $750

A-12 (LINK) SEXTANT

A pre World War II sextant manufactured by the Link Aviation Co. It was used by the military and airlines until sometime in the 1940ʼs, and was the last of a line of aircraft sextants whose design was influnced by use in open cockpit airplanes. Celestial altitudes are measured by reference to an artificial bubble horizon. The bubble is electrically lighted for night use by standard C size batteries. The sextant is very unique in that it has two different optical paths that can be used. In one, the observer looks down into the sextant and sees the reflected image of the star overhead. We suspect this is the mode designed for open cockpits. In the other mode, the observer holds the sextant at armʼs length and sees the bub-ble reflected on a glass surface as an illuminated ring against the night sky. Readings are taken from a vernier scale. The sextant comes in freshly overhauled condition in a compact case with calibration report and complete instruc-tions. The sextant is becoming quite rare, and its price reflects some antique and World War II memorabilia value. The sextant carries a limited warranty for a period of one year from date of purchase. SW 8 lbs.

A-12 Sextant #2101 $650