Navagating across the pond before GPS

[PhatAJ2008]

How did aircraft navigate across the vast oceans before GPS? Obviously they could not get a signal from a VOR... Just curious..
-AJ

 

[mannyaplus11]

Inertial Navigation Systems.
Before that, navigators using a sextant, loran signals, dead reckoning.
Of course, back then, plus or minus 10 miles was acceptable.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I used dead reckoning and ADF in the DC 3 over the Caribbean back in the late 70's. At those slow speeds, low altitudes and in that area of stable wind patterns it was quite accurate if you kept your heading and ran a nav log. Used to hit Cayman Brac (no nav aids back then) dead on every time.

Google these terms: Celestial navigation, Loran, Inertial Reference System.

Over land some early nav systems were the 4 course range, light beacons and quite literally "I follow railroad".

If you want to know how the sailing ships figured it out, I highly recommend this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192263/ Longitude. You might find it at your local library. Happy hunting in your navigation education, knowing basic skills will help you some nasty day the GPS/FMS goes Pffftt

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

Ask General Lee, Delta was really good at getting back from Europe....

 

[Bubba Dog]

Strategic Air Command KC-135 Celestial Navigation 1984. The stars and the sun with one carousel 9 way point INS that drifted at least 1 mile per hour and a Doppler that was useless on smooth seas.Primary means of navigation over the land was radar and over the pond a sextant. After crossing the Atlantic from Africa to the states Navigator was only of at the most 5 miles,usually within 3 miles.. During the day obtained a speed line with the sun. I was only the pilot. Knew I had to stay very still so to speak when taking the shots,no acceleration or deceleration and no turning for about two minutes. The navigator would give the celestial body's coordinates to the boom operator and would let the nav know when he "had the body" then shot would begin. This occurred about every 20 minutes or so. This was back before computers and GPS's. Everything including the math was done by hand. Used a slip stick to compute aircraft center of gravity. Called the navigator a "talking TACAN" but everyone knew how important they were back in those days. I really had a great respect for them and really enjoyed my days with SAC going all over the world with a great group of folks!!

 

[PhatAJ2008]

It's just amazing the knowledge and skill these navigators had back in the day. No wonder being a pilot was so prestigious and elite back then. Now all we do is basically follow a computer's instruction. Takes the skill out of being an aviator, along with the respect.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

Takes the skill out of being an aviator, along with the respect.

LOL! I'm sure today's fighter pilots would get their butts whooped by a WWI sopwith camel jock!

BBB

 

[Deli Guy]

I did it many times. Try this thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation

 

[pilotyip]

We used to cross the pond VFR, no flight plan FL 200 to FL 290 free cruise. Big Sky theory. All radios turned off, only listen to the command net. Back then all Navy pilots flying patrol airplanes had to be qualified in Cel Nav. If we hit the coast within 20 miles it was a good flight. That is where RNP 25 came from cel nav.

 

[Donsa320]

In the 1950's before inertial we had the old LORAN which was terrible usually because it was broadcast at about 1650khz so there were a lot of skywaves and the ground wave did not go very far. One had to pick a delay line to get a LOP and hope it was the line you wanted when you charted it. A 50 mile triangle would be a pretty good fix. To back it up we had celestial, if there was no cloud cover above us and, as we were not pressurized, there usually were clouds. In the daytime we also had a driftmeter and a crude radio altimeter which would allow us to measure drift if there were white caps or distinct waves over water or land formations if over land. The radio altimeter would give us our actual altitude and by timing a speck of wave or whatever as it passed through the driftmeter viewer we could compute a groundspeed as well as see the drift angle. Best to have LOTS of fuel.

DC