NavList:

Noonan wrote in his letter to Weems printed on pages 422 to 425 of Weems (https://sites.google.com/site/fredienoonan/resources/weems) that he used the Pioneer octant on the Clipper but there is no record of the type he was actually using while flying with Earhart. There is a video showing Manning using a Bell and Howell sextant on some earlier flights in the Electra but no evidence that this sextant was passed on to Noonan when Manning dropped out. He also wrote that he used Dreisonstok, not Ageton. Can you post a prewar Dreisonstok form?

gl






Ronald P Barrett wrote:

Gary, great site full of good information. I recommend it to anyone wanting to realize how Noonan was navigating ... albeit no doubt by use of his knowledge gained from his association with USN Weems and Eberle. Noonan had had many exchanges with Weems prior to his Pan AM exploritory pacific flights and he bunked with the Clipper's Aircraft Commander; so no doubt Noonan was a very serious, well schooled Navigator. I see the standard USAF Precomp herein.  Noonan would have had the mid-thirties Ageton form;if he had any at all. We/Air Force Navigators Observers Association ( www.afnoa.org ) have in our archives a number of examples of the prior-to-WWII celestial precomp forms. I'll do a pdf for you. Noonan also appeared to have used a USN Mark V sextant... which was a lot like a precedent (Patented 1931) Precision manufactured hand held bubble sextant with no clock type averager at all on it,,,, just the disk pencil marker. This USN sextant looked a lot like the Army Air Corps' A-10 that was widely used in all of the AAC/AAF planes early WWII through the end of the war. The biggest difference i saw in the two sextants was that the A-10 had a skyhook and the USN did not as the USN planes, and Pan AM too, until the Clippers... opening in the top of the plane's hull from which to shoot celestial. I do mean an opening! No astrodome. The Clipper's were some of the very first planes with a real astrodome. National Geographic had done an article in the late 30's showing Lunn up in the dome of a Clipper... that had flat plate ports. We/AFNOA have a copy of that photo. In AFNOA  are a number of the very first Navs taught by Noonan's Pan Am co-nav Charles Lunn. AFNOA also corresponds with Lunn's grandson who works for American Airlines today. AFNOA is also supporting TIGHARS latest go to the Pacific/archeological search for Noonan/AE's remains;whatever may be. Refernce AFNOA's latest issue of DR Ahead; the AFNOA quarterly Nav-publication. Anyone can join AFNOA that is interested in flight navigation (Ref. www.afnoa.org ). Call on us at AFNOA if ever you all want flight navigation information as we have over 1,200 active members and a working list of over 10,000 full names, addresses, nav-class graduation dates with training bases and phone numbers. You can blog us on three web sites: www.afnoa.org , www.james-connally.org , and www.usaf-nav-history.com AFNOA  also helps any museum wanting to establish a flight navigator's exhibit. Thank you for the great web site/work. Ron Barrett, AFNOA President & Historian --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Gary LaPook <glapook@pacbell.net> wrote: From: Gary LaPook <glapook@pacbell.net> Subject: [NavList] Website with flight navigation resources To: NavList@fer3.com Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 6:23 AM I have finally reconstituted my website which contains excerpts from standard texts on flight navigation in general and materials pertaining to Amelia Earhart which you may find useful. I will be adding additional materials as time goes by. https://sites.google.com/site/fredienoonan/ gl