NavList:

OK, that makes things clearer for me.

I think that your question could be best answered by NavList members who, unlike me, have extensive knowledge of history of navigation.  Perhaps in their studies of old logs they have come across a real-life and successful application of a running fix.  Furthermore, not so long ago we debated the distortion of a noon-curve due to declination change and N/S motion of the vessel. I remember some postings where a connection with the running fix procedure was mentioned.

I believe that rules similar to natural selection also apply in science and technology.  The one-body fix technique is not to be found in the literature because it has been tried and shown to be impractical.  Conversely, my guess is that the running fix is included in the literature after all these years because it has proven its worth in the past.

Bowditch has a section on the running fix where LOPs are given by bearing lines and NAVAIDs.  The running fix technique is also used to shift LOPs from multiple star sight to a common instant of time, thus accounting for the time elapsed between sextant shots.  It seems to me that it is a good thing that it is still taught.  Bill Buckley in his instruction video (made in the 1970s, I believe) states that 90% of celestial navigation on small boats is done with running fixes.


Peter Hakel