Re: Re: ✘ZED-F9P 24 hour scatter plot.

[Hal Murray]

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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