AviationBanter - View Single Post

**Mxsmanic** · April 6th 07, 02:38 AM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.piloting

writes:

If you have a heading to get to where you want to go, the details of
your current position are irrelevant.

You cannot calculate a heading for where you want to go unless you already
know where you are. The only places you can go with a compass without already
knowing where you are are the north and south magnetic poles.

Don't be an even bigger idiot than you already are.

I'm simply pointing out the errors in your argument. You cannot know where
the lake is without a chart; a compass will not tell you about lakes. And if
you have a chart, you are not navigating with a compass alone.

Given the task is to get from point A to point B and you have a compass,
the only information you need is the heading from point A to point B.

You can only calculate that heading by knowing the positions of points A and
B, which means you cannot do it with just a compass, unless point B is one of
the magnetic poles.

No, the compass doesn't tell you what it it supposed to be, you need
something else to tell you that, whether it is another person, a
chart, or you just happen to know it.

So a compass alone does not suffice. QED.

--
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