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In the early 1990s, I was returning home on a Hawker Siddely 748, carrying
about 15 drums of hazardous materials that we had cleaned up from an old
military site. Because it was a freighter, I was seated in the cock pit just
behind the pilot and co-pilot.

Being winter, it started to get dark at around 1400hrs as we were en-route
home. A very very bright light was visible on the SE horizon and this
precipitated an interesting exchange between the pilot and co-pilot about
the identity of the light. They were confounded and trying to figure out
what community it was. None of it made sense to them because the nearest
community was still a few hundred miles distant. This went on for about 5
minutes and I finally piped up over the microphone: "it's Venus".

A few days after the flight, I sent to the pilot and co-pilot, a little
blurb on how to use the astro-compass and how to identify stars and planets
for purposes of maintaining a heading in the absence of electronic aids. I
also strongly advised them that it was in their best interest to learn a few
of the old tricks which held their predecessors in good stead for decades. I
perhaps came off sounding pedantic and this probably explains why I never
received an acknowledgement from the pilots. Perhaps they too offense at
some know-nothing puke telling them how to do their jobs.

At one time in the north, mastering the use of an astro-compass and having a
basic knowledge of celestial bodies was required of all pilots. I don't
believe that this is the case anymore. I am not a pilot so I am not privy to
what is and what is not mandatory for flying in the Arctic. I travel a lot
by plane as a part of my job and I can tell you at least, that it has been
quite some time since I have seen an astro-compass mounted on the dash of
small aircraft.

I have quite a few similar stories about aviation "incidents" from the far
north.

Robert



----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoffrey Kolbe" 
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 2:20 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: Pilot avoids collision with Venus


>
>
> At 06:32 18/04/2012, Bill B wrote:
>
>
>>I do not know if cel nav is a requirement for a commercial pilots license
>>these days, but I would think a fundamental knowledge of the position of
>>heavenly bodies might come in handy for the pilot of any craft.
>
> Hmm. There is a lot of hype about this, mainly centred on a "disoriented
> and groggy" pilot who has just woken up, making a call about what looked
> like the lights of an oncoming plane, and considered that there was no
> time to make further checks about what else it might be before taking
> avoiding action.
>
> Let us change the scenario a bit. Let us suppose the plane had been on
> autopilot and the human pilot had been on a walk-about amongst the
> passengers (as used to happen once upon a time) and came back into the
> cockpit to see a bright light dead ahead. Now, we have a pilot who is
> awake and alert, being confronted with what he thinks is a plane on
> collision course within seconds of impact. What is he to do...?
>
> I would be interested to hear what Gary would think about this one.
>
> Geoffrey
>
>
>
>
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>
> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
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>


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