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Re: Flying to Antarctica
From: Brad Morris
Date: 2019 Jan 20, 21:56 -0500

Hi John

From Naval Arctic Operations Handbook 1949

Measuring courses in midlatitudes is fairly simple, but in high latitudes the convergence of the meridians at the geographical pole causes the course to change rapidly. To simplify determining course and direction, the grid system is used. This system substitutes a grid for meridians and parallels of the aeronautical chart and grid direction for geographic direction.

The Handbook goes on to state that the directional gyro is the instrument used to maintain heading. The gyro must be corrected for precession and then mentions using the astro compass to do so. I expect the Navigator may have done the precession correction, but you may remember setting grid direction on the gyro.

I also have a copy of the 1943 Sailing Directions for Antarctica. Black and white imagery is used to illustrate geographical features, which I must say, is quite appropriate. WHITE is what you see, with bits of rock here and there, but mostly just white!

Brad

On Jan 20, 2019 9:33 PM, "John D. Howard" <NoReply_Howard@fer3.com> wrote:

Brad,
Yes, we all got out of the airplane. We knew it was a once in a lifetime experance. Not much to see though. Fron the air everything was WHITE. Not a large place as I rember.
I did not know much about celnav then. Day time and the Nav climbed up on his stool to look through the sextant a few times. What I do rember was we ( the pilots ) were flying grid - the chart we used was special for the polar region and had grid lines instead of lat and long. The Nav had taken over the HSI ( pilot's compass ) and it did not show the same heading that our wiskey compass did. The approach to the runway was in grid heading.
It was early in my flying career and I was luckly to be on the crew. There were three pilots ( and two navs, if I rember corect ) so we could have a 24 hour crew duty day. I had attended Arctic Survival School which was a requirement to go. Most of my polar flying was up north.
John H.

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