• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Server side Maintenance is done. We still have an update to the forum software to run but that one will have to wait for a better time.

How in the World do you Read a Whiskey Compass?

Well a compass is actually a pretty easy piece of kit....the difficulty comes into play when you realize that you're using your compass on a moving platform at a speed that affects it, making turns that affect it, and at horizontal angles that affect it, moving through angles of declination that affect it.

Once you're through that....you'll be fine.

Lost, but fine.....
 
sg38 said:
Wrong again. Even the first F-14As of course had an RMI. (Just below the standby horizon).
Click to expand...

Precisely what am I wrong about again? Call me slow if you will, but all I did was apologize to PRB and retract my first statement. I don't believe I said anything about F-14s having an RMI or not. :kilroy:
 
tigisfat said:
Precisely what am I wrong about again? Call me slow if you will, but all I did was apologize to PRB and retract my first statement. I don't believe I said anything about F-14s having an RMI or not. :kilroy:
Click to expand...

I think he is trying to say that an RMI is also a whiskey compass given that RMI stands for radio-magnetic-indicator. Which means that in addition to showing the radial/bearing to navaids, it also displays a magnetic heading.

However, unfortunately, he was a bit inaccurate in that assessment. An RMI is not really a whiskey compass. This is because the card is actually a directional gyro, meaning the compass heading is stabilized with a gyroscope, same as the DG on general aviation aircraft.

For such a "humble" instrument, the RMI is actually quite spectacular in what it provides, which is why it is too expensive for most GA aircraft owners to afford as a standby instrument.

Here's some basic information for what each type provides:

http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/ndb-nav-adf-1.htm

Cheers,

Ken
 
tigisfat said:
... I figured that you were referring to F-14 pilots as only having a whiskey compass for navigation, not the RIO working his radar.
Click to expand...

Seems that I've misread your statement, sorry. I got the impression that you stated the F-14 pilot has only a whiskey compass in his front office.
Something totally useless for precise navigation.
That's why I mentioned that he has a gyro, the RMI as well.

@ Ken

>However, unfortunately, he was a bit inaccurate in that assessment. An RMI is not really a whiskey compass.

That's exactly what I wrote. See the above statement.
 
Do not drink the whiskey in there you will get drunk. Joking. From Hannah. Bye
Click to expand...
GOOD ONE!!!:applause:
I have no idea about whisky compasses, but I can tell you about drinking whisky!
 
sg38 said:
Seems that I've misread your statement, sorry. I got the impression that you stated the F-14 pilot has only a whiskey compass in his front office.
Something totally useless for precise navigation.
That's why I mentioned that he has a gyro, the RMI as well.

@ Ken

>However, unfortunately, he was a bit inaccurate in that assessment. An RMI is not really a whiskey compass.

That's exactly what I wrote. See the above statement.
Click to expand...

Ahh, OK, sorry about the misread! :engel016:

Cheers,

Ken
 
Piglet said:
GOOD ONE!!!:applause:
I have no idea about whisky compasses, but I can tell you about drinking whisky!
Click to expand...

I'm thinking it's a very safe bet that Jack Daniels Single Barrel tastes a heap better than the liquid they pour in those whiskey compasses! :icon_lol:

Ken
 
Ken Stallings said:
I'm thinking it's a very safe bet that Jack Daniels Single Barrel tastes a heap better than the liquid they pour in those whiskey compasses! :icon_lol:

Ken
Click to expand...

LOLOL.....

Some might disagree, (having watched the newest Sherlock Holmes). Always experimenting with odd chemicals for drinks.... (not me of course)
 
Little Chacha said:
Do not drink the whiskey in there you will get drunk. Joking. From Hannah. Bye. :wavey:
Click to expand...


Hey Hannah,

My Dad (your late grandpa) taught me that at school:
A is for Apple
W is for Wagon...

In the Military:
A is for Alpha
W is for Whiskey..

The W in NSEW (North South East West)
as in Whiskey... Whiskey Compass...

And why was it not called November Compass,
or Sierra Compass or Echo Compass....
I do not know the answer,

Maybe someone can help you solve the mystery....
And the liquid in the Whiskey Compass is NOT Whiskey!

... Whew!..

(Is there a summer school for kids... and a parrot somewhere?)

 
Some say it's because that compass is also commonly called the "wet" compass, because there is some sort of liquid in there. So, wet = w = whiskey in the military phonetic alphabet. That's just one explanation. Some say it used to actually contain whiskey. I'm not buying that one.
 
PRB said:
Some say it's because that compass is also commonly called the "wet" compass, because there is some sort of liquid in there. So, wet = w = whiskey in the military phonetic alphabet. That's just one explanation. Some say it used to actually contain whiskey. I'm not buying that one.
Click to expand...

..Thanks, Paul!
 
PRB said:
Some say it's because that compass is also commonly called the "wet" compass, because there is some sort of liquid in there. So, wet = w = whiskey in the military phonetic alphabet. That's just one explanation. Some say it used to actually contain whiskey. I'm not buying that one.
Click to expand...

I don't think they actually used to contain whiskey, but certain kinds of compasses did have alcohol in them. I was told the alcohol was why they were alled whiskey compasses.
 
tigisfat said:
I don't think they actually used to contain whiskey, but certain kinds of compasses did have alcohol in them. I was told the alcohol was why they were alled whiskey compasses.
Click to expand...

That's what we were told in flight school, too. In German the wet compass is also called "Schnapskompass" . So, originally, this seems to apply to old wet compass types of a certain generation.


Cheers,
Mark
 
The different compass companies for some unknown reason are reluctant to state what's actually in there compasses.
E.g. with historic planes it's sometimes neccessary to refill them and some of the possibilities are these:

Esso Bayol 35
Shellsol
Kerosene
Glycerin + water
Ethyl alcohol + distilled water
and last but not least; babyoil
 
I know Mommy. You told me. I was just reading what people will say. There is no whiskey inside the whiskey compass. The liquid is a secret ingredients. And if it is a secret no body should ever know till the time comes. Bye. From Hannah. :wavey:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top