another email virus to watch for

MisterW · Sep 11, 2010, 11:30:38

QuoteNot as bizarre as you think, if all else fails, use the mk 1 eyeball

When I worked at BAe Woodford on Nimrods, one test flight the Nav system failed totally. They got back by picking up the West Coast mainline,
following it to Crewe and then turning East.

QuoteWhen I left, the Nimrods were using;
GPS
INS
2 x Gyro magnetic compass
Magnetic compass
Sextant
Moving map projector
The main navigation tool was the INS

The early ones I worked on didn't have GPS, but the had the doppler groundspeed and the old 'clockwork' windspeed resolver system. I presume they were dropped when the GPS came in Glenn ?

Rik · Sep 11, 2010, 11:33:27

Probably from a great height.

Glenn · Sep 11, 2010, 11:49:47

Doppler was still in use in 96, the GPS wasn't considered reliable at the time. The Air Data System was still in place too.

Rik · Sep 11, 2010, 11:52:43

Are there any GPS 'not spots'?

Glenn · Sep 11, 2010, 11:57:55

I don't know, but there are INS not spots, the high artic for instance, unless you have special systems.

Rik · Sep 11, 2010, 11:59:48

Life is never simple, eh?

MisterW · Sep 11, 2010, 14:25:54

QuoteDoppler was still in use in 96, the GPS wasn't considered reliable at the time. The Air Data System was still in place too.

I left BAe in about 1980, I hate to think that I would have had to work with that ADS for another 16 years or more!

QuoteI don't know, but there are INS not spots, the high artic for instance, unless you have special systems.

Didn't the various air forces used to have some sort of competition which involved flying close to ( or over ? ) the pole to see how good their respective Nav systems ( and crews ) were ?

This thread's gone seriously off topic, but never mind.

Glenn · Sep 11, 2010, 14:48:44

We 'borrowed' some 51 sqn INS units, so a plane could meet up with a sub in very high latitudes, as they surfaced through the pack ice.

Rik · Sep 11, 2010, 16:16:08

Did it work, or did they find themselves flying over central London?

Glenn · Sep 11, 2010, 16:18:54

I believe they were able to get up to around 85 - 87.5 degrees north before gimbal lock, and you don't want that.

Rik · Sep 11, 2010, 16:26:30

I think I may have already had it.

pctech · Sep 11, 2010, 20:56:11

Quote from: Glenn on Sep 11, 2010, 16:18:54
I believe they were able to get up to around 85 - 87.5 degrees north before gimbal lock, and you don't want that.

Sounds painful