Plotting Board Trainer M16 by Felsenthal Instruments Company
date: label: date made
content: ca 1970
name: label: maker
content: Felsenthal Instruments Co.
notes: label: Description
content: At least as late as 2004, weapons sergeants in the United States Army (people with the job title computer) were trained to use plotting boards like this one, in combination with other materials, to plot the location of mortars, targets, and reference points, and to determine the direction of fire, mounting azimuth, and deflection of azimuth for weapons.
label: Description
content: This version of the M16 plotting board has a white plastic base that is square on one side and semicircular on the other. A circle marked with a grid of lines is printed on the base, and a vernier for finding azimuth deflections is along the top edge. A rotating disc pivots at the center atop the disc, with distances measured radially from 0 at the center to 3400 meters. Angles around the rim range from 0 to 6400. Scales for reading maps, given in metric units, are along the right edge. A scale pivoted at the center assists in reading distances.
label: Description
content: A mark in the upper right corner reads: PLOTTING BOARD-M16 (/) DEVICE 17E5 (/) MODIFIED FOR INSTRUCTIONAL (/) PURPOSES ONLY. It also reads: A PRODUCT OF (/) NDC (/) U.S. NAVAL TRAINING DEVICE CENTER. Text in the bottom right reads: FSN 6910-407-1242 (/) NAVAL TRAINING DEVICE CENTER (/) ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32813 (/) MFR. BY (/) FELSENTHAL INSTRUMENTS CO. (/) 22040 (/) CONTRACT NO. N61339-70-C-0185.
label: Description
content: Objects 1977.114.04 and 1977.1141.31 are very similar – the first has a white plastic base, the second a transparent plastic base. The accession file indicates that the second object dates from 1970, which gives the approximate date of this object.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: U.S. Department of the Army, <I> Soldier’s Manual and Trainer’s Guide MOS-18B Special Forces Weapons Sergeant Skill Levels 3 and 4</I>, 2004, esp. pp. 3-122-3-130. Use of then-current version of the M16 plotting board described.
label: Description
content: Accession file.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Plotting Boards
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content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Ben Wharton Rau and Margery Felsenthal Rau
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1977.1141.04
label: catalog number
content: 336388
label: accession number
content: 1977.1141
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plotting board
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (base; disc; rule material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (pivot material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .2 cm x 31.5 cm x 30.5 cm; 3/32 in x 12 13/32 in x 12 in