| Summary: | Gago Coutinho was one of the two Portuguese navigators that crossed by air the South Atlantic in the beginning of the 20th century. He developed a new model of sextant that could be used to measure the altitude of a star when flying without the need of the sea horizon. This new instrument was called "precision sextant" and used an artificial horizon line which was defined with the help of a water bubble. Due to his knowledge of Navigation, Astronomy, Geography and Mathematics he received from the Portuguese King D. Carlos I several assignments in Africa and Asia. Gago Coutinho received several important official medals and prizes, including the PhD Honoris Causa from the Universities of Lisbon and Oporto, and authored several scientific publications. He received the distinct position of Admiral of the Portuguese Navy in 1958, and died in the following year.
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