NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: David Pike
Date: 2016 Sep 16, 16:00 -0700
Sorry your A12s don't smell too good Herman. Most of my sextants smell great and take me back 35 years in an instant. That mixture of rubber, dope, AVGAS/AVTUR, and, for some reason, whisky really gets me going. Sometimes the rubber goes a bit sticky, but that’s the worst I’ve had. Do you know the history of your A12s? Many WW2 sextants appear to have ended up in second-hand shops as a result of house (or more likely roof or garage) clearances from chaps who’re no longer with us or have moved to retirement homes. Are your A12s in cute little green leatherette covered attaché cases with beige fluffy felt linings? Could they have picked up a severe case of mould in someone’s out buildings? Alternatively, do they still have WW2 C batteries in the handle or in the case, although these don’t normally smell, but they do leak. DaveP
