Sextant with artificial horizon
Manufacturer: L. Casella
Origin: England
Date: Twentieth century
Material: Aluminum, wood, brass and glass
Dimension: Diameter: 280 mm, Perimeter of the sector: 240 mm, Height: 105 mm
MM.05472
Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral developed an innovative process to know the position of an aircraft at sea, using the observation of stars. To do this, they based themselves on the techniques of astronomical navigation used on board ships.
To observe the height of the stars they used a classical instrument: the sextant. However, they had to adapt it in order to be able to observe the stars in situations where the horizon line was not visible. Therefore, to meet the needs of air navigation, Gago Coutinho adapted an artificial horizon system to a classic sextant.