Automatic Air Navigation: A Description of Some New British equipment

THE basic method of air navigation is deduced reckoning or simply dead reckoning. The method comprises the maintenance of an air pilot, which is made by calculating true airspeed and hence air distance run and then plotting this along the aircraft's heading from some initial ground fix. Subsequent ground positions may then be deduced by laying off the wind vector from the air position. As an example (Fig. 1) suppose an aircraft flics for one hour on a true heading of 060 deg. starting from an initial ground position A. If the true airspeed is 180 knots the air position will be at B, and if the mean wind over the flight is 45 knots from 340 deg. true then the ground position (by D.R.) corresponding to an air position at B would be at C. Now if the aircraft flics for the next hour on a true heading of 085 deg. and the mean wind over this hour is 30 knots from 310 deg. true, the air position with respect to A would be at D and the ground position at F. If a new air plot had been started at C then the air position, at the end of the second hour, would be at E and the ground position (by D.R.) again at F.