Astro Compass
The Navigator’s Information File has a description of the Astro Compass (or Astrocompass) . This device was used by navigators to determine the true heading of the airplane, to steer a true heading, to identify a star, or as a pelorus, a device without magnetic needles used to read bearings.
It is unclear to me if, or how often, this device was actually used. I ran across an Astro Compass while visiting the United States Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base, near Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
There have been many interesting comments posted by visitors to the AAF Collection. Some were posted by actual veterans who reminisced about their time during World War II. Some were posted by relatives of veterans who were excited to find a picture of their loved one. These comments are becoming a useful resource in and of themselves.
Like pilots, cadets who trained to be bombardiers and navigators were assigned to different air fields for different phases of their training. They had preflight, gunnery and either bombardier or navigator training, or both.
Most class books in the collection are from different air fields and training centers. Pilot training involved pre-flight, primary, basic, advanced, transition and unit training. After graduating one course, cadets were generally re-assigned to another air field for the next phase of their training. Interestingly, there seem to be no class books published for transition and unit training programs.
Here’s something interesting from 
You can now browse the collection by class or unit number. Suppose you know a relative who was in class 44-D, but you’re not sure at which air field he or she was stationed. You can display the items associated with all classes that were numbered 44-D. This narrows down the book in which your relative might appear.
