E6B

[Typhoon1244]

My grandfather-in-law passed away a few weeks back. While my father-in-law was cleaning out the house, he found something he thought would interest me: a "Dalton Dead Reckoning Computer." I recognized it immediately, of course...looks and works just like what I've always called an "E6B."

I've tried a couple internet searches and got nada. Has anybody ever heard of the Dalton computer? And does anybody know why those well-known computers are called E6B's? Was there an E6A? Or E5B?

 

[banned username 2]

As with many items of technical trivia, time has erased, or at least muddied, much of the history of the circular flight computer that we know as the E6-B. So far, this is about all I can piece together about its development. If anyone out there has any more exact information or corrections to this information please let me know. The E-6B was invented by Phillip Dalton in about 1932. Initially called the Dalton Dead reckoning Computer, the early model E6-B's were usually made of brass with engraved markings. My father had one, which has somehow been lost, and I am sure it had a significant effect on the weight and balance of his Stinsen. Although the newer vintage E6-B's are lighter and have improved pivots, they are essentially the same combination of circular slide rule and wind computer as the original brass models. The E6-B has survived the test of time. It requires no power, and thus continues to function even when the electrical system quits. In addition, its "graphical" nature makes it extremely useful as a teaching tool, providing the student with a mental picture of the problem instead of just the (numerical) answer as do it electronic counterparts. With scales for everything needed in flight, the E6-B will probably continue to survive more generations of pilots as the electronic models come and go.

http://www.e6b.com/e6b_history.html

Hope this helps!

 

[WrightAvia]

Those E6B's can be pretty cumbersome...

http://360.dynip.com/myAlbum/album09/100_0003_IMG.sized.jpg

 

[Typhoon1244]

Those E6B's can be pretty cumbersome...

Uh...that's an EA-6B. Got a few more moving parts.

But nice try!

 

[mar]

The Dead Reckoning Computer

All I know is, there's a reason they call it "Dead Reckoning".

And that line above is what's known as "Avbug Bait".

Ah c'mon! Where's your sense o' humor? A few months ago I got to be part of a crew that took a DC6 from Anchorage to Victoria, TX.

We left with two VORs, no ADFs, no Glide Slope, no Marker Beacons, no XPNDR, no Fuel Gauges, no Pressurization, no Cabin Heater, and no Wing Heaters and a Handheld GPS that worked *most* of the time. (We did have a ferry permit and a CD player with over 15 hours of music hooked into the intercom.)

By the time we got to Seattle we had one VOR that would receive within about 30nm of the station.

We did a little Dead Reckoning on the way...especially around all those infernal Restricted Areas and TFRs you guys have down there.

Whadya think about that Avbug? We done good, yeah?

Man ya'all got some bigass cockroaches in them motel rooms.