NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: An aircraft with a sextant
From: Derrick Young
Date: 2009 Sep 8, 14:40 -0400
From: Derrick Young
Date: 2009 Sep 8, 14:40 -0400
Frank, Just got around to reading your note on the KC-135. I used to work for Boeing Aircraft Company. I was there when we sold the first B-737 to Quantus Airlines. Remember that this was a twin engine jet that (basically) had two crew. To get the range to allow the plane to fly from Seattle to Hawaii and then on to OZ, they would place fuel bladders in the lower compartments and off load to the wing tanks during flight. What made it interesting is that all of the navigation equipment that came with the aircraft was designed to be used within 200 NM of land. To get across the pacific, a section of the roof in the cockpit was removed and replaced with Lexan. A navigator was assigned to the craft and they would take sun shots, star shots, etc. to get them from Seattle to OZ. Then the bladders and Lexan would be removed, the interior of the aircraft finished and the crew would deadhead back to Seattle. No need to use the sextant now, but history shows that we continue to have valid uses for equipment and procedures that are otherwise considered obsolete. Derrick --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NavList message boards: www.fer3.com/arc Or post by email to: NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---