Simon ZerafaMar 17

@thegrugq

I saw an interview with an RAF bomber navigator and as an experiment he did the astronavigation thing, on the ground while stationary. Sextants in the aircraft astrodome, the full procedure.

He couldn't get within 5 miles of where he actually was, at the airfield 🤔

Show threadsupernal resonanceMar 17
@simonzerafa @thegrugq on the other hand, 5 miles away at a thousand feet of altitude is close enough to spot it, and if you're an RAF navigator whose life depends on your ability to navigate by the stars using Royal Navy equipment, being able to spot the runway is probably a good enough outcome
Show threadSimon ZerafaMar 17

@resonancewright @thegrugq

That was under ideal conditions though.

At night in a moving aircraft, while your being bumped by turbulence or Triple A, then the error margins will be even larger.

That could be a totally different city in the cockpit window.

This is why Germany and the Allies spent a lot of time on electric navigations aids very early on in WWII. And countermeasures for the same.

Vibe navigation really isn't a thing 😉

Show threadmaxsec-2022Mar 17
@simonzerafa @resonancewright @thegrugq and if course now we have GPS interference going on making civil navigation fun once again.
Show threadsupernal resonance
@maxsec2022 @simonzerafa @thegrugq 21st century selection pressures are rather different from 18th century ones aren't they. used to be wolves, now it's did you drive into a lake because Google said
Mar 17 at 11:39amWeb