Theodolite Omi Nistri, Artillery Militia Against Aircraft, Italian Royal Air Force, circa 1940

Theodolite or Director for detecting artillery shots, produced by "Omi Nistri" for the Italian Royal Air Force (Artillery Militia Against Aircraft), circa 1940.

Theodolite with a 120° angled telescope, equipped with a precision compass associated with a toric level, horizontal and vertical circles, equipped with microscopes for reading the graduated vernier scale. A knob allows you to rotate the vertical vernier, here too there is and associated a small toric level with small steps equipped with a mirror.

The Theodolite can be fixed to the tripod via three screw pins attached to it, allowing you to carry out high-precision trigonometric topographic surveys and zenith observations.

The Theodolite is complete with all its accessories and is stored together with them in its original beech wood box with its leather straps useful for carrying on the shoulder. Excellent condition.

The Omi-Nistri Roma Ottica Meccanica Italiana company of the Nistri brothers based in Rome began its activity during the First World War and specialized in the construction of photographic equipment for the Air Force to be used in aerial reconnaissance (planimetric and perspective equipment) and in shooting schools (photo machine guns).

The anonymous company Ottico Meccanica Italiana e Rilevamenti Aerofotogrammetrici was founded as early as 1924, but it was only in 1937-38 that its headquarters were built in the San Paolo area for the production of precision optical instruments for the Air Force.

Around 1938, OMI established itself on international markets for the export of aeronautical material and in the years of the Second World War, the company took on strategic importance, given its mainly military production. At the end of the Second World War, OMI, like other Italian industries producing military equipment, found itself in the position of having to forcibly change its reference market.