NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2024 Oct 27, 04:46 -0700
R William McAllister, you recommended this book:
"Celestial Navigation: Prepared For Aircraft Flight Crews" by Elbert F. Blackburn
The detailed overview includes this comment: "This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original". Turns out it's a 2011 reprint from a book originally published in 1942. There appears to be one rather pricey copy of the original available from a seller in the Netherlands [on abebooks, cover artwork attached below]. But 1942? Historical interest, yes, some... but relevant to a modern would-be aerial navigator? The catch with 1942 is that it's still early in the aerial navigation revolution. It's a half-way story...
By the way, there are a number of sources selling the (2011) reprint. The lowest price seems to be on amazon, but again, why this book? I did not manage to find a pdf of the original, but it should exist since, of course, that's how the modern copies were produced.
The cover below may be a different book from 1942, but the subtitle "Prepared for Aircraft Flight Crews" was, as it turns out, a standard subtitle for an array of elementary books on radio operations, hydraulics, engine maintenance, survival, and navigation (at various levels) all published by some organization (US? private? associated with an airline?) known as the "Airlines War Training Institute" around 1942-44, and the author is Blackburn for both, so probably the same book.
Frank Reed
