NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Joe Plazak
Date: 2025 Mar 12, 18:17 -0700
I have looked for original documentation on the R-1 VAID (V being the old symbol for Radar) in the past and come up empty handed. My conjecture is that the device was shipped without documentation. However, I would be happy to be wrong about this. I'm attaching an article from a 1965 issue of The Navigator that discusses the history of the R-1. Here's an interesting quote:
"With the developement of the more exotic post-war radar bombing equipments, however, the original purpose of the VAID computer got lost in the shuffle. The slide rule side was used less and less; on the other hand, practical uses for the grid and compass ross --- some probably never dreamed by the designer --- were gradually discovered."
Gary recently posted a link to a copy of AFPAM-11-216, which has a full chapter devoted to radar navigation (along with some techniques that can be applied to an MB-4 computer).
jp
