Autopilot Turn Controller for A-5 Auto Pilot System, Sperry, B-24 Liberator Smiths Battleship USS Pennsylvania

Battleship USS Pennsylvania

Note that the Type A-2 spec sheet in the photo gallery and this Type A-3 example appear to be the same

One end of a magnetic needle

Escort Carrier Casablanca

"Aircraft Observers" typically were responsible for operating the bombing and navigational systems

Autopilot Turn Controller for A-5 Auto Pilot System, Sperry, B-24 Liberator Smiths Battleship USS PennsylvaniaThe A 5 Automatic Pilot was used primarily in WWII era bomber aircraft of the Air Corps US Army such as the Consolidated B 24 Liberator (see photo of B 24 cockpit showing the location of the A 5 panel). The A 5 system appeared in aircraft manufactured during or before 1943, the year when the Honeywell C 1 system became the standard autopilot system for large multi engine aircraft. Theoretically, the A 5 system may also have appeared in the Boeing B 17