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Re: Re: ✘ZED-F9P 24 hour scatter plot.
From: |
Hal Murray |
Subject: |
Re: Re: ✘ZED-F9P 24 hour scatter plot. |
Date: |
Sun, 19 Dec 2021 13:24:46 -0800 |
jamesb.fe80@gmail.com said:
> Marine vehicles should have a crew and instruments for them to navigate by,
> aircraft should have radio beacons, landmarks, compas, possibly gyroscopes
> (inertial), and crew. Autonomous cars should have reasonable maps, lidar,
> caneras (multi-spectrum), wheel rotation counters, compass, someone, and
> other stuff.
You are thinking high-tech.
A while ago, the US Navy stopped teaching navigators how to use a sextant. I
expect that was a sensible decision. It's better to spend the time and money
on something with higher paybacks. From RISKS DIGEST, Volume 19: Issue 76, May
1998
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.76.html#subj1
On the other hand, this is a good story. From RISKS DIGEST, Volume 19: Issue
75, May 1998
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.75.html#subj5
Lots of comments/stories there, but this is the one I remember:
30+ years ago (1968?), the brother of a Navy navigator friend (also a Navy
nav) was assigned to VX-6, the Navy C-130 squadron that provided logistics
support out of Christchurch, NZ, for the annual wintering-over expeditions to
the Antarctic. On one trip, after departing the ice shelf in a near white-out
for a return trip to Christchurch, and climbing out to VMC [Visual
Meteorological Conditions] on top of an apparently endless cloud deck, the
aircraft suffered a TOTAL and complete electrical failure. No AC no DC (after
batteries depleted), no comm, no nav, no nothing; VMC on top with all
directions NORTH. Well, using just his periscopic sextant, HO-214 (the Air
Almanac), and a chart, he was able to continuously shoot the sun to get a True
Bearing to the sun, work backwards, and compute headings to fly to
Christchurch... The aircraft arrived successfully, and he was awarded a Navy
Commendation, etc. All done with a sextant and chart. Nice work.
--
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