NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 Oct 26, 08:31 -0700
There are some basic web pages, for example from Smithsonian Air & Space (photo below), that I assume you've seen already. This type of sextant was apparently manufactured by both Kollsman and Baird-Atomics. The latter name is clearly a "Cold War" style of naming, and apparently "Baird" added that "Atomics" tag (following a merger?) from 1956-78. There's a "mil spec" that matches this instrument from 1958. So 1960s seems likely for the time period.
It's difficult to judge the size in these photos... Kevin C., could you give us some measurements of size and weight? Does the red dome on yours appear to be a ground storage cover?
I couldn't find any connection to an aircraft type, but I'll guess: a later model B-52. The part of your unit with manual controls (knobs for bubble, elevation, azimuth, lighting) looks like something that would have been fitted into a navigator's station. Can we find any photos of navigator stations on B-52's and other bombers, other large USAF aircraft, with that specific block of controls?
Note: information on this sextant is sufficiently scarce that Kevn's inquiry on the NavList message boards is now in the top ten of Google search hits for this device.
Frank Reed
