Plotting Board Mark 3A by G. Felsenthal and Sons
date: label: date made
content: ca 1945?
label: date made
content: ca 1944
name: label: maker
content: Felsenthal Instrument Co.
notes: label: Description
content: Plotting boards of this sort were standard equipment for pilots flying from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers during World War II. The large rectangular sheet of clear plastic has a white disc pivoted to it on which a grid of green lines is indicated. It has scales allowing for course corrections due to magnetic variation and wind speed. The back of the disc is also printed, but the range of speeds goes from 0 to 230 rather than 0 to 170. A mark on the corner of the rectangular sheet reads: AIRCRAFT NAVIGATIONAL (/) PLOTTING BOARD (/) MARK 3A F.S.S.C. No. 88-B-770 (/) BU, AERO. U. S. NAVY CONTRACT NO. N28s-4359 (/) G. FELSENTHAL & SONS, CHICAGO, ILL.
label: Description
content: A small white plastic square with a round disc atop it is riveted to the right corner of the rectangle. It allows for corrections to air speed in relation to air temperature and altitude. It is marked: BU. AERO. U. S. NAVY (/) AIRCRAFT NAVIGATIONAL (/) COMPUTER (/) MARK 8 (/) F.S.S.C. NO. 85-C-1150.
label: Description
content: The instrument is stored in a cloth case with a snap.
label: Description
content: Both the inside of the flap of the case and the larger board are marked with the initials HEA. The object came to the museum from the mathematics department of Wesleyan University. One member of that department was the statistician Herbert E. Arnold (1896-1957). According to the Wesleyan University Archives, Professor Arnold, along with other faculty, taught for Wesleyan's Navy program during World War II. One part of this program, the V-5 Naval Training Unit, was also called the Navy Flight Preparatory School, and stayed at Wesleyan from January 1943 until August 1944. Coursework focused on aerology and naval science. Whether Arnold taught in this particular program is not clear. He did teach in a V-12 program, which included classes more like Wesleyan's usual liberal arts curriculum.
label: Description
content: A similar plotting board is in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Personal Communication, Special Collections and Archives, Olin Library, Wesleyan University, June, 2016.
label: Description
content: Herge, Henry C. <I>Navy V-12</I>, Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 1996. The volume has a photograph of Arnold teaching in a V-12 program at Wesleyan.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Plotting Boards
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content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Wesleyan University
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0112.226
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0112.226
label: accession number
content: 1985.0112
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plotting board in case
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .2 cm x 35.5 cm x 42 cm; 3/32 in x 13 31/32 in x 16 17/32 in