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Based on the contract your sextant was made in 1956 or 1957,  the "56"
refers to the fiscal year of the contract which begin October first. So
depending upon when your father worked for Pan Am this type of sextant
might not have  been in use yet. I wonder if the MA-2 or the very
similar MA-1 were ever used by Pan Am. These sextants were variations of
the Kollsman periscopic sextants that were used in modern aircraft
starting in the late 1950s which were mounted to the roof of the cockpit
and the end of the periscope tube extended through a small port in the
roof of the aircraft. The periscopic Kollsman sextants were used in
DC-6s, DC-7s, DC-8s, Connies, Boeing 707s and military aircraft, B-52s,
C-130s etc. If your father flew these types of aircraft then he probably
used the periscopic Kollsman. If he flew for Pan Am on earlier aircraft
he probably used an older type of hand held sextant.The only aircraft
that used the hand held MA-1 and MA-2 that I am aware of is the B-47
which did not have a location for the periscopic sextant mount so the
navigator used the hand held model in the cockpit under the bubble canopy.

Follow these links to more information of aviation sextants including
the MA-2. I am attaching the manual for the MA-1 which is similar except
it uses a pendulous mirror instead of a bubble to level the instrument.




http://navlist.googlegroups.com/attach/514cdeffa7953b7d/Sextant+pages+from+NIF45-3.pdf?view=1&part=4&hl=en


http://home.earthlink.net/~s543t-24dst/airnav/index.html

http://aafcollection.info/items/detail.php?key=21&pkg=ls!title!!4!title!up!20


http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/sOtWSUG0Iz02aZfa333T__tCD6HFmJtf3A-O4XPgy_5vC0kzEzuN7RDSic37IYnliUcfbxB60TALBXsnmAbKLg_Dhl0Oo-OMWT95W1THM5G9y_IA/ma2.jpg


http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/sOtWSTESx-02aZfao3SfTZDaT0YIjhS8ZrzI_MSX8VDCj2BojQvsJ74SvQZQkjINjOqAMrrjbT5ZumZf4WrIbCuKimlCAfbFcg0xgrs3Bcahfjw3/ma2_optics.jpg



gl





tstee wrote:
> We got my 89yo father a sextant we thought he may have used in his
> days as a navigator for Pan AM. It's either newer than the model he
> used or he's just forgotten a lot about it. The instrument came
> without any manual so we're looking to find some info that he can read
> about it. All the numbers on the plate are as follows:
>
> Type:  MA-2
> Mil Spec:  S-9390
> Mfg part:  1972-01
> Contract No: NDas 56-1116
> Stock No:  6225-1972-01
>
> We would appreciate any information about this unit or a source for
> more info. Thanks
>
> Terry Steenrod (tstee)
> 815-235-5304
>
> >
>
>


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