The practice of sighting stars using a sextant had been commonplace amongst navigators for hundreds of years aboard ships, and proved to be applicable to faster moving aircraft as well, however, the task required a 360-degree view of the celestial horizon.
Historically, sailors have used sextants to locate stars for navigation. This method has proven effective for aircraft flying at high speeds as well. However, using a sextant requires a complete view of the sky.