A Secondary Saga Southbound Sextant Adventure .. "Seeking Sally"

Nice, thanks Tesson. I'll try this later.

I hadn't even tried anything over on the chart side.

There's hope yet. :)
 
Hello all sextant navigators.:wavey:

This post is showing the time and location if the sextant shots we took during Leg 3 of the flights to Antarctica.


For consistency purposes we only used the Blue line (Star 1) and Red lines (Star 2)… the Blue line for all Latitude readings and Red line for all Longitude readings.

Note that the difference in longitude between SAZS and SCCI is only about 20nm. Since the flight plan is about 711 miles the red line (longitude readings)should always be very near the center vertice line.
If we started to drift one way or the other it would become obvious if the red line readings became offset from the center verticle line on the graph.


It’s also interesting to note that our compass heading had to change a total of over 5 degrees just to allow for magnetic variation. SAZS is at a -10 andSCCI is at a -15.3 degrees... at least when FS9 was created.

I’m posting all the shots at the bottom. I hope all these are lined up correctly.If not, someone will let me know, hopefully.
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Finally, if anyone decides to fly this one in the day light hours I'd suggest an arrival at SCCI around about "high noon", for a decent Latitude reading of the Sun. SCCI is located at S53° and, since it's Winter there, the Sun is only about 23 degrees elevation at noon.

SAZS-SCCI

1.CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 4:00:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S32° 50’ W68° 50’ (SAZS)
ACRUX Hc +23° 02.1’ Zn 203.6°Latreading Star1 Blue
FOMALHAU Hc +61° 15.7’ Zn 76.6°4®Lonreading Star3 Red
Shot 1

2. CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 4:30:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S32°50’ W68° 50’ (SAZS)
ACRUX Hc +20 53.7 Zn 200.8 Latreading Star 1 Blue
DIPHDA Hc +40 26.5 Zn 78.0 Lon reading Star3 Red
Shot 2


3.Celestial Navigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 5:09:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S47° 00’ W71° 00’ (Fix#1)
MOON 62 22.7 S 3 52.2 +46 13.7 12.5Lat Star1 Blue
NUNKI 116 30.9 S26 16.8 +48 47.5 283.8Lon Lon Star Red
150-15=135 135*60/39=208kts GS for 39min.
Shot 3

4.Celestial Navigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 5:30:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S47° 00’ W71° 00’ (Fix#1)
MOON 67 28.7 S 3 48.0 +46 41.5 5.1Lat reading Star 1Blue
NUNKI 121 46.7 S26 16.8 +45 16.4 279.2Lonreading Star3 Red
Shot 4

5. CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 6:00:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S47° 00’ W71° 00’ (Fix#1)
MOON 74 45.8 S 3 42.0 +46 34.7 354.5 Latreading Star 1Blue
ACAMAR 8 37.6 S40 15.2 +45 33.4 105.1 Lon reading Star 3Red
Shot 5

6. CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 6:30:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S53° 00’ W70° 50’ (SCCI)
ACRUX 234 01.0 S63 10.1 +26 51.3 188.1 Lat reading Star 1Blue
ACAMAR 16 08.8 S40 15.2 +51 48.2 92.9Lonreading Star3 Red
Shot 6

7. CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 6:45:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S53° 00’ W70° 50’ (SCCI)
ACRUX 241 32.2 S63 10.1 +26 21.9 184.3 Lat reading Star 1Blue
NUNKI 144 20.4 S26 16.8 +30 03.0 265.3Lonreading Star 2 Red
Shot 7

8. CelestialNavigation Data for 2011 Aug 15 at 7:00:00 UT
ASSUMED POSITION: S53° 00’ W70° 50’ (SCCI)
Shot 8

View attachment 46193 View attachment 46192

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View attachment 46198 View attachment 46197


Lastly, notice that the Latitude Offset (Blue line) is above center in shot 7 instead of below it When reading Fix #1.
This is ONLY because in shots 5 and 6 we were reading stars at a northern azimuth and in shot 7 a star located at a southern azimuth.

dil
 
Thanks for the screen shots Gunter,

Nice job of showing "moving" the center (small green) circle to the intersection of the star shots to read distance and heading.


As you stated: "The cursor can be moved with the green arrows at the side of the chart."

Then, by clicking on the "NM" hot spot located at the far "bottom left" of the gragh, you can read the distance and heading "to the center of the graph", which is always the location of your aircraft.
The reading is at the top/left of the graph.

By flying the inverse of the heading shown "to the center" we would reach the ASSUMED POSITION of our destination.
 
salt,

Good to see you, I hope you've found Sally!

Well. here ya go. I hope you have some reading time.:running:

From the Peanut Gallery Advocate ....



I'm enjoying the play by play of each flight and I've gotten a grip on how tomake shots with the sextant ... thank you!


Slowly grasping what shots I want to take (logic behind choices) ... prettygood mix of reasoning made understandable ... well done!

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Still drawing a blank when planning a new or different flight (one that has noexamples) as to how best to utilize the sextant.

The logic is the same with the sextant as when flying NDB or VOR. If you planned a flight using these NAVAIDS you would space them so that you alwayshad one of them a readable distance.
For instance, if you were flying acrossthe country and all the High Altitude VORs had a range of 195nm.
It stands to reason that you could fly using VORs spaced at 390nm. Like the VORs, we know that the readable distance of the sextant is 180nm.
So we can actually space our Fixed points 360nm apart and still get accurate readings.

See answers below.


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[fromthe short story "Notes So Far" by salt_air]

Take a shot at Departure airport using the lat/lon coordinates of that airport.... then (at least) one at the half way mark along the course and another 30minutes to a hour before reaching destination .. this time using the lat/loncoordinates for the destination airport.

Splitting the distance between the two points lessons the margin for error.

This will give me a "check" on distance along the course line todestination ... along with my time and ground speed math ... a balance andcheck ... like when your traveling by car and check your odometer against themile markers along the road.

This is what you do in daylight flying.


You may not have the luxury of obtaining a good Lat and Lon reading during the day.
Most people who loves vintage flying has probably heard of the famous line of position(LOP) that Fred Noonan and Amelia Earhart were seeking...the 157/337 LOP.
Once on that line,determined by the morning Sun, they could fly 337 to reach Howland Island or 157 south to the Phoenix Islands if they’d ended up somewhere between the two.
That LOP was all they had to go by since it was in the morning and all they had to work with was the Sun.

Stating it a bit differently, since the Sun was locatedin the east, they could get good Lon. readings, but not good Lat readings, thus the North and South LOP.


If it had been my choice (I'm not qite that old
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) and I was Fred Noonan, I’d have tried to talk Amelia into leaving Lea at day break and arriving at Howland at night when I could get accurate readings for both Lat and Lon by using stars locatedat 90 degrees differences. That way he could have put them right on top ofHowland, no problem.
The flight was about 23 hours so Fred would have had approximately 2 hours of night to work with.
They could have lit up Howland Island with beacons, and runway lights that could have been spotted for miles at night as well.



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The option of triangulating a fix comes into play only when there are more celestial bodies visible in the sky.

Under no circumstance do you ever spit into the wind.


Exactly, and only possible at night


The most important thing to remember about reading the sextant is that the ASSUMED POSITION is NOT necessarily where you are, but where a known location is.
Your actual position is ALWAYS the center of the graph. Let’s suppose you’re 180nm from SASA and you set the ASSUMED POSITION of SASA and look at the Celestial Navigation data charts and it tells you, to the exact second, what the azimuth and elevation of many different stars are from SASA at that exact time.

The Celestial Navigation data charts show those relative positions of the ASSUMED POSITION and
NOT from where you’re located, which is 180nm offset on the charts in this example..



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Lateron (return trip) I would want to use the sextant to help me "carry"an idea of where I was across the no signal zone between the ranges of twoNDB's along the flight path.

That would be a check or performed in addition to regular wind drift checks ...by meter or e6-b calculations.

A fix would not only help me figure how far down the course line I had flown(since the last fix), but it would give me an indication of whether or not Ihad drifted off course.

Yes, but when you say a fix again you have to realize what you’re dealing with.In the morning and evening the Sun will give you and accurate Lon readings, butnot Lat readings.




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Question ... When simply flying along acourse line and taking LOPS at regular intervals, can you (by looking at theblue, green, red) lines on the chart know if you have drifted right or left ofcourse line?


The colors mean nothing really. They’re just for your ownpersonal preference.
You can make your Lat reading Red and Lon reading Blue or vice-versa.
It’s interesting to note that, when I flew from SAZS to SCCI, during the entire 711nm flight plan, that theLon. between the two airports is only 20nm.
If we flew it during the day it would have been difficult to determine at what Lat we were.

Having said that, it’s also interesting to note, SCCI is located at S53 degrees. The daytime Lat readings of the Sun will are getting more accurate as we fly farther south.


Back the Fred and Amelia for a cool example. The worst possibletime and place to fly directly north and south would be at the equator on thefirst day of Spring or Fall, also known as the Equinoxes.

Check this out.
Go to
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/celnavtable.php and set in July, 2 2011.
If you happen to have added the great scenery package that Charles Wood created you would have an airport at Howland Island at N00° 50.0’ W176° 40.0’.
Set these coordinates into the Celestia lNavigational data chart by entering the above date and a time of 23:50:42, which is high noon at the exact time and location of Howland Island.
The resulton the data chart is as follows:
SUN Hc +67 49.9 Zn 0.0.
Notice that the azimuth is exactly True North and that the elevation is well above +65 degrees, which would make it virtually imposable to get an accurate Lat. reading whilestanding on the island let alone bouncing along in an aircraft at 140 knots.

To farther clarify the point let’s use my last flight from SAZS to SCCI as an example of Sun readings. SCCI is located at about S53° 00’ W70° 50’.
For the day let’s use August 20, 2011. High noon can be found by changing the exact time near noon.
I found it to be at exactly 16:46:45give or take about 10 seconds either way.
Notice that the
SUN Hc+24 49.9 Zn 360.0. has an elevation ofonly 24 degrees, which is a great time for a Lat reading.



Still pounding on all of this off line in different aircraft on different (thanposted) flights hoping that will force the light on quicker.

You'll get it.....actually I think you have, but the questions are great for those who haven't


Pleasant reading,

dil

PS: Sorry about any words that've run together. Again, I complied in word and pasted here. Sometimes the server doesn't quite get a space.
 
Quick question

Quick question .... not to confuse things, but would using the Sun Compass ([SIZE=-1]Alexander Belov[/SIZE]) ... http://www.flightsim.com/file.php ... be beneficial at this point since magnetic variation is getting kinda whacko?




Sally's "supposed" to be at Isla Rey Jorge ... some 1800 NM from my perch at Mendoza.

I need to buckle up and make it further south.

Hopeful to be swapping the ransom for the ol' Gal by this time next week if not sooner.





I would really like to see more folks out here .... you (and others) have provided THE Sextant Tutorial of all time!

Excellent Work Dil!



Speak again soon,
 
This is a nice short flight that will demonstrate flying diagonally across latitudinal and longitudinal lines. It’s a bit different than flying due east, west or north, south as most flight plans. There are just acouple simple calculations to consider, but easy enough.

Flight Plan SCCI to SAWH


Setup:

Fuel about 200 gallons. That’s about twice the fuel weshould need on a clam day, however there’s no such thing in the Furious 50’s. A70knt head wind could stifle us pretty quickly if we were to compute fuel in normalconditions.

Start: SCCI/RW12

Cruise altitude = 10,000’

We’re going to fly this one in Clear FS Weather (no realworld weather)

You can have some fun playing with the figures I’ve come upwith and plug them into formulas for position and mileage checks.

Flight:
Departure Time 18/08/2011 at 11:30 local 15:30Z

If we climb at a rateof 500 ft/min it will take us 20 minutes to reach 10,000’ no matter what speed.
With RPM set at 2250 and a MP between 32 and 35 in. Hg, weshould be able to maintain a 500 ft/min with an occasional click of the pitch control on the Sperry.

We’ll take a shot at 11:50 local (13:50 UT) time to obtain our take off and climb speed by plugging in the formulas below.

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Here are some calculations that Sextant Navigators may haveused in the early days instead of snoozing or talking to the pilot, copilot, orcrew, while waiting to take star shots.

To keep busy (job security) we navigators fill in our log with many calculations.
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Our flight plan is showing a distance of 142nm

We know that each 1 degree of Lat = 60nm and that 1 minuteof latitude = 1nm

1) The Lat/Lon ofSCCI is S53° 00’ W70° 50’
2) The Lat/Lon ofSAWH is S54° 50’ W68° 20’
3) The difference inLat is 60+50=110nm
4) The difference inLon is 50’+60’+40’=150’(minutes unknown distance?)

According to a guy named Pythagorean, the square ofthe hypotenuse is = to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.... or something to that affect.
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a) Side (a) Lat = 110x 110 = 12,100 (known by subtracting Lat difference from SCCI to SAWH)

b) Side (c) (HYP) = 143x 143 = 20,164 (according to the flight plan).

c) Side (b) Lon = 20,164-12100=8064

d) Side (b) = [(sqrt) of 8064] = 89.8nm Lon

e) We’ll travel 89.8/34.49= 2.6° Lon at Ushuaia, Argentina, which is our destination. LOP

f) 142/110 = 1.3 (foreach 1nm we travel true south (Lat) we actually travel a distance of 1.3nm).

**The key to calculating distance during the daylight hours with only the Sun to read is simply this:
g) 142/89.9 = 1.58 (for each 1nm we travel true east (Lon), we actually travel a distance of 1.58nm)

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View attachment 46331 View attachment 46333
This shot was taken at SCCI bebore takeoff with Coordinates of SAWH set into the sextant ASSUMED POSITION.


View attachment 46332
In FS, by reading theoretical stars 90 degrees apart, we can check the distance........eliminating all the math; however, it's good to know what you're looking at.
We used 0 degrees and 90 degrees. We then moved the green circle up to the point where all readings crossed. The result, as you can see is 143nm to the center of the graph.


Since we’re reading the Sun we know that longitude is a better indicator than latitude.


From the Celestial Navigation data charts we see that at 11:50 Local time the azimuth of the Sun will be approx. 12 degrees.

At 11:50 is we get a reading of 60nm which obviously isn’t a correct distance to SAWH; however, if we looked at both latitude and longitude we could compute our location.

From g) above, a Lonreading of 60nm x 1.58 = 94.8nm to SAWH (LOP)
Our climb speed142-94.8= (47.2 x 60)/20 = 141kts.





At 12:00 we take ashot and the reading is 40nm.
From b) above, a readingLon at 40nm x 1.58 = 63.2nm from SAWH
Our cruise speed 94.8-63.2= (31.6*60)/10 = 187.2kts
AT the rate of187.2kts we should be at our LOP at (63.2/187.2) = .3376hrs or 20.25 minutes.

View attachment 46335

It’s time to begin a slow descent and offset our heading yy15 degrees to make sure we end up at an offset LOP above (north of) ourdestination airport. In this case we turned left to heading of 127- 15 = 112 degrees.

At 12:20 is we shot areading of 0nm.
Our airport should be directly South of us, since we turned left to obtain our LOP north of the airport.


View attachment 46337 View attachment 46334
Airport in sight! Success!


Please note that this method isn't fool proof.
Like any other day time readings of the Sun, you can get blown off course with the wind.
The Longitude calculation will only be accurate when you're on the planned course.
A large or small change in longitudinal between readings can be a flag (hint) that you may be loosing way.
Another reason that it's important to have a good idea of climb/cruise/descent speeds at all times.

The reason I didn't use real world weather for this flight was to demonstrate the longitude/distance calculation.
The wind down here in the S50's, using real weather, has been in the 70kt range lately this time of year.
A LOP is still a LOP.......... the best we can do when flying in the daytime hours with only the Sun.

There IS one time, at exactly high noon, when the sun is at 0 degrees, that you can get an accurate latitude reading from the sun.
That only lasts for about 10 seconds in time. The shot has to be taken very close to that time.
Better done by sailors than aircraft navigators.

dil :wavey:

View attachment 46336
 
FYI sextant reset:

I've, noticed, when taking readins with the sextant at times, that a number below the DISTANCE N. MILES will not clear after tapping the eyepiece.

If this happens to anyone, go to the menu, choose Aircraft/Realism Settings, and simply choose OK. There's no need to change anything. That will clear the number without changing any other settings on the sextant.

It can be done by a fresh down load of real world weather as well, but the other method is quicker and easier.

Perhaps it's just my setup or it could be that there's a bug in the sextant.

I'm not sure exactly what's causing it at this time. I just know how I can clear it.
 
Giddyup!

Isla Rey Jorge ain't gittin' any closer .... let's "make way".

Rhumb line course there (SCRM) from Mendoza (SAME) comes in at roughly 165 degrees for a scosh over 1800 NM .... just a bit too ambitious for me ... wel, at least today anyway ;).

However for the sake of allowing enough time for the process to develop I'll set out for the 50 yard line and plan to hit Puerto Deseado (SAWD) ... a scosh over 900 NM.

Clear weather instead of the usual setting for me ... real updated weather ... there will be plenty of time for that aggravation on the return trip or whenever I feel like I have a grip on Sextant Navigation.

I have set the sim back to 1941 because I need to get back in that habit .... I'm actually on a side trip of an around the world voyage that is taking place then.





Okay ... out of SAME for SAWD 1530 GMT Aug 21, 1941 ... Douglas DC-3RR41 .... 100% fuel and a payload of me Pedro and the crate ... 400lbs. and 11000' cruise altitude.


Initial course heading of 168 with periodic corrections (hour or so) for complliance with a Great Circle Line that will have me reducing the heading as I fly to around 162.


To be clear this is a Dead Reckoning flight that is making full usage of clear skies, no wind, the Sperry Autopilot, watch, and Sun Compass.

Any and all Sun Shots will be done extracurricular to see how they would be related to the task/flight at hand .... get a better feel for their relevance and use them to double check where I think I am along the flight line.


Also incorporate the shot making process into my flight routine on jaunts like these.


Confession time ... The panel I am using in this aircraft has ADF reciever(s), but is set up to indicate morse code signals instead of visually on an RMI or Radio Compass ... for the Radio Range.

I have installed the ADF from the default Lockheed Vega ... just in case I get hopelessly lost or (better yet) want to confirm how well I'm doing.


The flight will take me further from the Andes and out towards flatter ground, then eventually to the East Coast of Argentina so long term there will also be some visual confirmations as we fly.



Closing this post, I'll update as time allows.
 
first hour

Took off RWY 36 (SAME) and flew a right hand pattern out of Mendoza with a long downwind leg to cross what would have been the course line had I taken off from RWY 18.

Turn to 168 and continue climbing to 11000'.


First shot at an hour down range shows me at roughly 130 (or so) NM from SAME's coordinates that I left in place .... only changed the Azimuth and Elevation.

Probably could heva just set the az because as soon as I began centering the Bubble the elevation values immediately changed on the chart.



[Bubble "Chase" and Blue Line from shot at SAME just before takeoff]



View attachment 46412View attachment 46413View attachment 46414



[Green Line shot at 1 hour into flight]



If you consider a cruise speed of 140 or so and the time it took to climb out at a slower speed then the distance check is just about right on the money.

I not calculating exact info here just trying to get a "feel" for things.

Net from that shot is that I'm using the Sextant and Data Tables correctly.




I'll grab one more shot in an hour (from with leaving the LAT/LON values for SAME in place the last shot) and then I'll change to a fix that is just about halfway from SAME to SAWD and track in to there.
 
Number 2

Thought number 2 would be a good title for this one...

Not sure (yet) what happened, but that shot didn't really make any sense.

Nothing matched up with DR calculations at all.

Double checked the Data Table ... that's not it ... oh well.



View attachment 46424



I'll grab the next shot at the halfway point or close by the clock.

I 'll also "cheat" and find my exact coordinates to put in (shift+Z).

Let that be a new place to start ... do over.
 
Looking good so far!

You're flying a rumb line of W68° 50' Lon all the way to SAWH.

The reading, taken at 16:30Z with the Sun directly behind you to the North at an azimuth of 3°, is giving you a good Lat indication. H

Notice that hign noon is at exactly 16:35:25UT for today's date.

Celestial Navigation Data for 2011 Aug 21 at 16:38:25 UT

For Assumed Position: Latitude S 32 50.0
Longitude W 68 50.0

SUN Hc+45 05.9 Zn 0.0

that is to say at SAME




As the Sun gets farther west it will reflect a more longitudinal direction and the line will become verticle. Keep the Lon as close to zero degrees ON longitude W68° 50' and you'll fly right down to SAWH......no problem

If you're readings become any distance from zero, you'll know you're being blown off course.

Your LOP, is 90 degrees true north and south since sun only gives Lon readings or 90 degrees from east and west which is (Lon.)
In youir case, flying directly south the LOP is always 90 degrees from east and west which is pure Lon only.

The toughest thing to do is fly directly south in the early morning and late afternoon as you'll get no Lat indications readings (distances).

However, by keeping good DR figures you should be able to maintain good AP's as you fly. The only thing that can get you into trouble is the cross winds.

Good luck, you've got the concept.
 
Thought number 2 would be a good title for this one...

Not sure (yet) what happened, but that shot didn't really make any sense.

Nothing matched up with DR calculations at all.

Double checked the Data Table ... that's not it ... oh well.



View attachment 46424



I'll grab the next shot at the halfway point or close by the clock.

I 'll also "cheat" and find my exact coordinates to put in (shift+Z).

Let that be a new place to start ... do over.


Looks like you're too far from SAME now to get an accurate reading


Move your AP to somewhere nearer your calculated DR position .........anything close will do. As the afternoon passes, only Lon readings will be good.......keep them close to 0 degrees all the way in
 
Just happened to arrive at Isla Rey Jorge, Antactica when I saw your posts, so have time to spend here.

Feel from to ask any questions.

I hope the posts above make sense.
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Hi Austin,

Regarding your 3rd shot that was way off the DR position.

AFAIK the sextant is averaging shots over the 1 min duration.
If the assumed position is far off the real position you will first have to pull up the sun into the bubble. Meanwhile the sextant is already averaging, so the first elevation measurements that go into the average are way off the real elevation if you're far from the assumed position, seriously affecting the end result. Sextant would show position closer to assumed position than you'd really be.

If you have taken some time to pull up the sun into the bubble during the 3rd shot (like 20 sec or so) that may be an explanation for the strange results.

I always try to have the assumed position not too far from the DR position (say, within 50 nm), and pull up the sun into the bubble as fast as possible (make a dry run shot and abort before the real shot to find where the sun is in relation to the bubble) to avoid such impact on the result.

Just a possible explanation. But I'm not 100% sure my interpretation how the gauge works is correct.

Btw, instead of getting position with shift-Z to get a new point of departure you could try to make three "star" shots at Azimuth 0°, 45° and 90°.
shift-Z as last resort ;)

Good luck on your trip. Looking pretty good so far.

Gunter
 
Safe and sound at SAWD

Dil ... teson1 ... Thanks!


That's really all I have for now on both posts.

Looks like I was straining an assumed position past it's practical purpose for this exercise.

Coincidentally I made most of you guys' corrections on the next shots.

Let's have a look here ... back in the saddle on the blue shot ... was actually a little late so it's more accurate than it appears.

The green shot was once again too far away from the assumed position ... live and learn.



View attachment 46454



Now on a subsequent shot at almost 5 hours into the flight (time to descend) ... I grab a shot that has the LAT/LON values for SAWD and find I am about 60 -65 nm away ... pretty much dead on.



View attachment 46455




Shorter intervals .... not so much frequent as closer to the assumed position.

Sound about right?








Now I had planned to make the next leg a one stopper at Isla Rey Jorge ... A leg of similar length only completely across open water .... not feelin' it right now.


Pedro and I have to wait for the fuel ship to dock and unload nearby anyway ... I'm going to look at a more coastal route perhaps ... or ... drink this bottle Sake and make it straight across as originally planned ... :mixedsmi:



View attachment 46456




More response a little later ... dinner and some more reading.


Thanks a bunch guys!! ... we'll get it soon.
 
Hi Austin,

Regarding your 3rd shot that was way off the DR position.

AFAIK the sextant is averaging shots over the 1 min duration.
If the assumed position is far off the real position you will first have to pull up the sun into the bubble. Meanwhile the sextant is already averaging, so the first elevation measurements that go into the average are way off the real elevation if you're far from the assumed position, seriously affecting the end result. Sextant would show position closer to assumed position than you'd really be.

If you have taken some time to pull up the sun into the bubble during the 3rd shot (like 20 sec or so) that may be an explanation for the strange results.

I always try to have the assumed position not too far from the DR position (say, within 50 nm), and pull up the sun into the bubble as fast as possible (make a dry run shot and abort before the real shot to find where the sun is in relation to the bubble) to avoid such impact on the result.

Just a possible explanation. But I'm not 100% sure my interpretation how the gauge works is correct.

Btw, instead of getting position with shift-Z to get a new point of departure you could try to make three "star" shots at Azimuth 0°, 45° and 90°.
shift-Z as last resort ;)

Good luck on your trip. Looking pretty good so far.

Gunter



Understood Sir ... all but the 3 shots theory ... what else needs to be input besides the az values??
 
SCRM...

Going to Isla Rey Jorge ... straight down ... it will be tomorrow though ... still waiting on fuel and "Homie" has had one too many anyway.



Another attempt at a Rhumb line FP with adjustments to keep the Great Circle gods happy ... again with no wind ... may try to leave early morning and lean on whatever Stars are out.



Need to run duenna for this, green or not .... just for the log it keeps of each trip.



Although it will be over open water there will be land visible for a good portion of the trip and there is a 75NM NDB there for safe keeping.

After I make the swap for Sally we'll be headed North to Curacao ... that trip will be my final exam on all this ... should be fun. :wiggle:
 
SCRM

We're here ya hear...........with lots of produce, and goods. We were honored to fly a replica repaint of the C-47. It's was a plane flown by the China National Aviation Corporation that crashed somewhere between Kunming to Dinjon in November of 1942. Near what is more commonly known as "The Hump".
The crew and plane were never found.

Courtesy of Mark Beaumont and the MAAM fleet.

SCRM is: "The Teniente R. Marsh Airport is thenorthernmost airport in the continent of Antarctica. It mainly serves thenearby village, Villa Las Estrellas and the Teniente R. Marsh Martin Base. Itis located on King George Island, Antártica, Antarctica."
The airport has 5 small buildings (hangar, control tower) and asmall apron area for parking aircraft.

We had the luxury of dropping much of the heavy cargo before landing on the short strip that ends in the drink if you over run it. :)

It's been a long flight and day. Will post the log and details later.
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Frozen Strawberrys anyone?:wavey:

Not actually we put them in (rewarmerators) opposite of refridgerators.

New word! lol

dil
 
Alright Dil ... beauty!


Let's keep the runway clear today ... might want to have S&R on standby as well.


I like how your mesh files have raised the runway there ... mine looks like a swamp.



Cheers,
 
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