In fact, it's not just a fall back instrument in the world of general aviation. There are many aircraft flying today where the lowly compass is the primary (or even the only) navigational instrument. It has its idiosyncrasies but once understood, its reliability and predicatability remain unmatched by more advanced instrumentation.
I recall hearing an instructor once dismissing a gyroscopic heading indicator as a mere 'luxury'. Still...a sneaky glance at the handheld GPS never hurts. Regards Peter. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pettit, Ghery Sent: 13 February 2007 17:28 To: John Woodgate; [email protected] Subject: RE: IATA Regulations No, but that old magnetic compass is still the fall back instrument for navigation. In fact, I set the gyro compass (heading indicator) to the magnetic compass every 15 minutes or so on the planes I fly. Some more modern HIs automatically correct using a magnetic sensor, but the idea is the same. Don't mess with the magnetic compass, you really want to be able to depend on it. Ghery S. Pettit From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Woodgate Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 10:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: IATA Regulations In message <[email protected]>, dated Mon, 12 Feb 2007, Monrad Monsen <[email protected]> writes >In fact, 49CFR only has the forbidden magnetic levels in the >regulations (deviate the compass by 2.0 degrees at a distance of 15 >feet). Do modern aircraft still rely on a lodestone, then? (;-) -- OOO - Own Opinions Only. Try www.jmwa.demon.co.uk and www.isce.org.uk There are benefits from being irrational - just ask the square root of 2. John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________
