Why The Hell... (random rant)
Mxsmanic wrote:
Tim writes:
Not all planes have GPSes. In fact, most don't.
That depends on what category of aircraft you're looking at.
Many of the haldheld units fail.
How many? I've never seen one fail, although I'm sure it happens
occasionally. They don't even have any moving parts.
The failure rate for compasses is quite low.
So is their accuracy, even when they are functioning perfectly.
Not really. It is unreliable. Its signals can be disrupted - rendering
them useless.
Magnetic bearings are constantly disrupted, everywhere on Earth.
I don;t want my only source of reference taken away at
anyone's whim.
But a compass cannot give you the information that a GPS gives you. It can
hardly tell you anything at all.
Bull****. Can you say piper cub (to name one counter example)
There is no need for electric power in a plane.
You have an engine turning. That's power. And it can fail, just like
electrical power.
Not in the real world. On a computer maybe...
Even in the real world. The purpose of INS is to have a way of navigating
without any external references; it's a very advanced and accurate
implementation of dead reckoning.
compass is still the best, most reliable way to find north.
It's useless for truth north unless you have a chart _and_ you know where you
are. Even for magnetic north, it can be substantially off. And just knowing
which way is north doesn't help you much, anyway.
Tell that to Charlie Lindbergh.
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