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These aircraft served as flying classrooms for training U.S. Army Air Forces navigators in World War II.
Black-faced Coucal and Long-tailed Cuckoo, Pacific Islands (Centropus melanops, Eudynamys tahitus)
A soldier using the Blue Force Tracker System.
Most navigators in the Army Air Forces started as pilot cadets who “washed out” of pilot training, often in a PT-17, such as the one seen here. Good math skills were considered essential for those who made the transition to navigator.
A maritime sextant with a special bubble attachement to the eyepiece to aid in establishing a horizon in aeronautical use, circa 1919.
It contained a crystal ocillator and was key to the LORAN system.
Student navigators learning about celestial navigation.
The U.S. Exploring Expedition included a formidable group of botanists, naturalists, artists, taxidermists, and other scientists.
Captain Charles Wilkes led the U.S. Exploring Expedition, which sailed around the world between 1838 and 1842.
Charts like this were used by Navy pilots throughout the Pacific.