Todos
← Back to Squawk list
Before GPS: How Did Pilots Navigate in the Early Days of Aviation?
Navigation is something we do every day without even considering it. In its simplest terms, navigation is getting from point A to point B. It's fairly easy when the distances are short, and the environs are obvious. Finding your way to the kitchen in your own home, for example. But when the distances grow longer, and if the destination is unfamiliar, then the challenges increase. (aeroxplorer.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
A friend of my father's and a FAA check pilot said that my dad, for former DC-3 pilot, was the only pilot he ever saw using a Shell oil map in a DC-8. Dad liked having road maps as backup just in case, lol. Probably not a terrible idea in the 1960s, aircraft were lost, including another UAL DC-8, because they lost awareness of where they were when the navigation instruments of the time failed them.
Interesting navigator true story: There were still ocean station vessels positioned in the North Atlantic when I first crossed the pond in 1971 in a USAF C-130. After I radioed Ocean Station November to get a range and bearing to confirm course, I heard the radar operator contact a Pan Am 747 heading over to Europe; he asked the 747 if they wanted a range and bearing too. The 747 politely declined and mentioned to OS Nov that he had a triple INS on board so he was just fine. There was a silent pause of about 30 sec and the OS Nov radar operator came back up on comms and asked the 747 if he could get a range and bearing on him so he could update his precise OS Nov sea position. How times have changed!
I am not a pilot. Not even close.
Do (did) pilots ever use gyroscopes? I see no mention of that except the article says something about "precise accelerometers mounted on a gyro-stabilized platform".
Do (did) pilots ever use gyroscopes? I see no mention of that except the article says something about "precise accelerometers mounted on a gyro-stabilized platform".
I would say YES. They had ADI's (Even though primative). They could tell you if you were Wings Level, but not if you were Upside down or Right Side Up! Modern day has a Blue Scale on top to show you up, the old ones were totally black with a White Line for level, Climbing, Descending, or Turning.
Mr. Harry Ellet , You Have a great Personality.
“ Who cares About “ spelling “ it’s not what you say it’s how you Say it .
At times , One might mistype Letters or words by mistake and it’s just Fine .
As we all know this is not a spelling contest site and “ others Should Refrain from criticizing members “
“ Who cares About “ spelling “ it’s not what you say it’s how you Say it .
At times , One might mistype Letters or words by mistake and it’s just Fine .
As we all know this is not a spelling contest site and “ others Should Refrain from criticizing members “
The giant cement arrows still exist. I came across one while hiking around S. Nevada.