MIL-S-5807A Sextant, Aircraft, Periscopic
Kollsman Instrument Corporation
MS part no. MS 28011-1

Fig 1 Periscope in case	Fig 2 Label side	Fig 3 Elevation knob side	Fig 4 eyepiece side, upper left knob is bubble control	Fig 5 Close up of label and filter wheel & white knob cross hair lamp brightness
Fig 6 Warning label, clock winder & patent number	Fig 7 Elevation readout & clockwork dial	Fig 8 Cover page of Patent	MS 28011 Sheet 1 with part names	Fair Radio has a different one and the seal appears to be broken (see Fig 5 above for good seal)

General Information

This aircraft sextant was used for celestial navigation.  I think it has been replaced by GPS and/or inertial navigation systems.
The patent is dated 1945 and the sticker on the sextant is June 1986.  This instrument is a masterpiece of mechanical and optical engineering.

The bubble is there and can be controlled by the knob.

I think the idea is that the person sighting a star or the Sun, keeps it in the cross hair and at the same time keeps the bubble centered.
As the elevation control is moved up and/or down the clockwork mechanism is averaging the elevation over a period of time.

When the elevation dial is at 90 you are looking straight up and with it set for 0 you are looking at the horizon.  The smallest division on the elevation counter is 1 arc minute ( 1/60 of a degree).
Note you can only see out the periscope after the clock lever is pressed, winding the clock AND pushing the button to start the averaging.
How you get the averaged answer is a mystery.

I have not wanted to break the seal, but if you did I expect that the clockwork inside would be very interesting.
There are two GE 327 lamps easily accessed behind metal covers.

The Filter Wheel (Fig 5)  has 8 positions:  1= no filter,  2 = green, 3 = red, 4 = green+ND1, 5 = ND1+red, 6 = ND2+green, 7 = ND3+red, 8 = ND3+green.  The Neutral Density filters starting at no. 4 are strong enough that you can look at the Sun.  It's image is about the same size as the bubble. 

To hold the sextant some type of support would be helpful, like a 2x4 with a hole to clear the 1.375" diameter periscope tube and a way to keep it from falling out (maybe use the pin on the side of the tube?).  Unlike the sextants used on ships that are hand held, this one needs an external support.

US Patent 2516187 -Calculating Instrument application Feb. 24, 1945 covers some of the operation of this sextant. (see Fig 6 above)
The key feature is the "averager" that mechanically averages the elevation setting over time.

MIL-S-5897C(ASG) contains operational specifications such as:

3.3.1  Sextant.  Hereinafter, the term "sextant" shall be construed to mean the sextant proper, Periscopic tube, connecting cable, and watch clip.  The sextant shall be a bubble-type sextant built in the form of a periscopic telescope with the periscope projecting above the skin of the aircraft.  Provision shall be made for 360 degree rotation of the instrument around the vertical axis and tilt of the sextant up to 14-1/2 degrees minimum from the vertical axis.  The sextant shall conform essentially to Standard MS28011.

MS28011(AS) consists of three drawings:

• sheet one (shown above) has the layout of the sextant
• sheet two has information about the receptacle that mounts to the ceiling of the aircraft
• sheet three shows the shipping case

A.F. Manual 51-40 Air Navigation has a little information on this sextant.  Vol 1 has descriptive info and Vol 3 operational info

ID Plate

The ID palte reads:
Sextant, Aircraft, Periscopic
MS Part No. MS 28011-1
28 Volts A.C. or D.C.
Specification MIL-S-5807A
Mfr's Part No. 1471B-01
Mfr's Serial No. 3870
Order No. NOas 52-535
Stock No. R88S0400-050-000
Kollsman Instrument Corporation
U.S. Property  35050-1

And the paper sticker says:
Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center (AGMC)
Repair Date JUN 16 1986
Newark Air Force Station
Newark, Ohio   43057

The label on the periscope tube says:
 

Minutes
-10	-1	-1
0	0	-.5
45	+.5	0
90	-2	-2

D-1 Mount

Links

Maryland Antiques Center - Bendix A-15 Aircraft Sextant, probably made using the same patent
History of the Sextant - page 2 with various aircraft sextants
Celestaire - Navy Mark V without Averager -  Navy Mark V with Averager -
Sphere Research - Aircraft optical sextant (looks similar to this one US$295/C$442
Garcia Avation - Aircraft Sextant (looks like this one)
Deutsche Optik - Handbook of Instructions with Parts Catalogues for Aircraft Sextant Type AN 5951-1
Helmut Singer Elektronik - Smiths Mk2A/C -
A Trip to the Norht Pole - The art of celestial navigation -
Short History of "GEE" Air Naviation Copyright :Henry R. Black, 2001
Some Australian P3 Orions have a GPS antenna mounted in their sextant mount
JANS of London -Instruments -  Significant events in the evolution of marine navigational instruments
Kollsman -has licensed Carp Industries. (CAGE 0D9X5) to mfg these systems.

CARP INDUSTRIES INC, 4550 U S HWY 1, GRANT, FL 32949
CAGE CODE: 0D9X5, Status: A - Active
DUNS Number: 194909032
Voice Telephone: 321-952-1303
County: BREVARD
SICs: 3728 Current List of SIC Codes
Date CAGE Code Established: 09/26/1988
Last Updated: 01/04/2001

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