Long x-country...

buttman wrote:
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere? When I got my training in Ohio, I
was never taught to use the furrow/fence lines in navigation, and I
never even noticed that they could be useful for such. Once I started
instructing in California, I happened to notice they can be really
helpful in navigating, and I now can't imagine trying to navigate
without them.


Not anywhere with mountains. Here in PA the fence lines are more random
and a function of terrain rather than magnetic direction.

Matt

"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

No. They only run where ther are section lines. The property lines in the
east are run along the "metes and bounds" system. Farmer Johns property run
along the creek to the top of the hill over to the big rock and back, based
on topography.

Surveying by using section lines happened during the time the west was
"won." Section lines start to show up in eastern Ohio and go west from
there.

That's why there are no straight roads in New England.

Karl Curator

"karl gruber" wrote in message
...

"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

No. They only run where ther are section lines. The property lines in the
east are run along the "metes and bounds" system. Farmer Johns property
run along the creek to the top of the hill over to the big rock and back,
based on topography.

Surveying by using section lines happened during the time the west was
"won." Section lines start to show up in eastern Ohio and go west from
there.

That's why there are no straight roads in New England.

Karl Curator

I should have read to the end before posting, as I see that several of you
have already stated much the same thing.

Peter

On Oct 29, 8:48 am, buttman wrote:

Don't they run like that everywhere? When I got my training in Ohio, I
was never taught to use the furrow/fence lines in navigation, and I
never even noticed that they could be useful for such. Once I started
instructing in California, I happened to notice they can be really
helpful in navigating, and I now can't imagine trying to navigate
without them.

I'd say that assuming cardinal ground reference is inferior to the
proper use of a magnetic compass. In my limited experience fence lines
can and do run in all directions...

my 2c

Cheers

On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Reminds me of when ...

My first USAF assignment was Wright Field (Dayton). During my checkout
at the Aero Club, I got thoroughly disoriented because the roads and
field boundaries went every which way. The only order I could discern
was 'spokes of a wheel' converging on one town or another.

With my girlfriend and my family in Kansas, and two T-34s in the Aero
Club, I made many trips to visit home. I soon noticed that somewhere
west of Dayton the pattern on the ground returned to normal. (I learned
to fly at USAFA, so 'normal' to me was the grid pattern of N-S and E-W
roads and fence lines across eastern Colorado and Kansas.)

From this experience, I've advanced this theory: During the great
migration westward, it was at about the Ohio-Indiana border where the
land surveyors caught up with and passed the settlers.

Jay - congratulations to your son for his accomplishment, and thank you
for sharing it with us. Such stories bring back great memories, and
give promise that our world of general aviation will live on.

george