NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Sextant Aqu-1/A
From: Paul Hirose
Date: 2025 Oct 27, 16:43 -0700
From: Paul Hirose
Date: 2025 Oct 27, 16:43 -0700
The AQU-1/A designation is puzzling. In the standard US military scheme, each letter position has a meaning. For instance, the APN-9A is an aircraft loran receiver: A = airborne, P = pulse, N = navigation. I think Q in the second letter means sonar, which makes no sense for a sextant. Possibly the operator was confined to a seat. That would explain the azimuth knob. On the ID plate the "MFR" number may be a CAGE code: "A Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code is a unique identifier assigned to suppliers to various government or defense agencies, as well as to government agencies themselves and also various organizations. CAGE codes provide a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location." https://www.dla.mil/Working-With-DLA/Applications/Details/Article/2920893/cage-code-commercial-and-government-entity-code/ The B-52 used (still uses?) a standard periscopic sextant and mount. Since the navigators sit in the lower compartment, it was normal for the EWO (electronic warfare officer, who sat in the rear of the upper deck) to operate the sextant. Later B-52s moved the tail gunner to a seat beside the EWO, where he operated the turret by remote control, and also took over sextant duties. The B-47 had two sextant ports. One was in the nose, where the navigator sat. Another was in the canopy above the copilot. I think two periscopic sextants were carried. -- Paul Hirose sofajpl.com
