INS Alignment at Sea

Boy do I feel old. In the true bomber days of the A-3 we actually
carried a chronometer and a bubble sextant, shot the stars and got a
three-point fix. Ditto the sun and LAN local apparent noon. Plus a
"potty" of sorts and a working p-tube. Box lunches were in order, 3 or 4
hour cycles were the norm (I even flew once with Charlie James refueling
from A-4 tankers for eight hours.) We'd estimate surface winds by
checking the sea, and we even did pressure pattern navigation out to
Bermuda.

What's all this about gyros and other gizmos? (OK, Whidbey started
getting ASB-7 c. 1961 while we on the east coast stuck with the modified
Norden ASB-1a bombing system.)
Joel McEachen VAH-5 (Mushmouths)

Mike Kanze wrote:

We "girls" led more than one little lost lamb of a fighter through the goo.
And gave them gas as well.