Multimedia Gallery
- Navigation Methods: Celestial Navigation
Navigators commonly felt that pilots and commanders did not fully appreciate their efforts. Their job was complex and not readily understood by others. “Hot rock” was period slang for “hotshot.”
Like most air navigators, Crosby saw celestial navigation as the high point of their art. But, in the European theater, most navigators relied mainly on radio and dead reckoning navigation.
Airsickness was common among new navigators, who frequently had to look at the ground through drift sights and make calculations while maneuvering. Crosby suffered more than most, but it did not stop him from becoming one of the war’s top navigators.
This painting by Ludolf Backhuysen depicts three Dutch cargo ships.
An astrodome provided an enclosed area from which a navigator could take sightings.
This compact averaging sextant was widely used in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II.
A wartime chart of a commonly used ferry route.
Pioneered Air Corps navigation technology
Navigator Albert Hegenberger facing rear and behind a semi-protective windscreen while making his celestial sightings.