This 1957 FA-16 camera does not appear in any archival references but one was sold a few years ago in UK and a lot of lenses for it are seen on Ebay. The low-profile design lends it to compact installations, 'flight-rated' to record 'in-flight' missile-launches, hence the 'Missile-Camera' designation. Designed to stand high vibration and acceleration.
The camera runs on 12Vdc with no controls. Loads a 300 ft. open-core film roll (darkroom or changing bag). Speed was changed by gear selection. I measured it with a stroboscope at 28 FPS no-load. I installed an 8-ft. power cable to the camera's terminal strip, and built in a switch with gel-cell battery and charger. Added QD connector. Everything is housed in the original military case. Unit runs correctly, drawing 1.6A.
I have provided an original 13mm f 2.7 (moderately-wide) and a huge 10mm (extremely-wide), f 1.5 lens. The 13mm is installed on the camera and the 10mm secured in the case. The camera mounts with standard 1/4-20 internal threads. A robust Davis & Stanford mini-tripod is included for display and demonstration (or use). 2024 I partially dismantled the camera and lubed everything while replacing spool-slip clutches. Runs far faster. Fascinating semi-auto-load feature.
Some chipping of the original gray-wrinkle finish, and handling wear are seen, not easily improved. Little evidence of use. Research documents on design features are furnished. The Fastair with its innovative rotary-prism mechanism appears to be a progenitor for several later well-known designs from Photo-Sonics and others. It seems a pity that this elegant camera did not see much production.
Note that this item ships in two packages.