Astrodome (aeronautics)

The practice of sighting stars using a sextant had been commonplace amongst navigators for hundreds of years aboard ships, and proved to be applicable to faster moving aircraft as well, however, the task required a 360-degree view of the celestial horizon.

During the Second World War, astronavigation became a critical ability used to by various nations to conduct long distance flights at night, particularly strategic bombing campaigns.

[2] During these early days of aviation, those individual officers that chose to employ astronavigation often attempted to simplify the traditional procedures of marine navigators in this new operating context.

[4] For the RAF, it was particularly important for specific aircraft to possess astrodomes as the service had opted to perform the majority of its offensive operations over the continent under the cover of night, hindering conventional navigation by landmarks.

[5][6] On numerous aircraft, such as the Short Stirling four-engined heavy bomber, the astrodome was angled so that it could provide generous external views, including of ground positions, not only those relevant to the task of astronavigation, thus the facility was sometimes used for observation (unrelated to navigation).

[2] Similar hemispherical-shaped domes were also installed on some Second World War era heavy bombers for the purpose of sighting of their defensive gun turrets, particularly those that were remotely operated.

[10] Several RAF bombers, such as the Sterling, were equipped with an astrograph; this device, installed above the navigator's table, projected lines of equal altitude for two stars at any one time.

[citation needed] Eric Tabarly, record-breaking winner of the 1964 OSTAR single-handed transatlantic race, and former French Aéronavale (Fleet air arm) pilot, had fitted his revolutionary lightweight ketch-rigged racer Pen Duick II with an astrodome scavenged from a decommissioned Short Sunderland flying boat.