NavList:

Hi David,
I realize that the training dictated military practices but I also remember that in my sleep deprived time in Navy OCS I made it through a brief exposure with CelNav with no memory of what I had done. I also remember reading about a fairly recent ( 10 years ago) trip to a WWII plane that had overflown the Libyan coast, continued south into the desert, run out of fuel, and crashed. The visitor to that remote site said he found the navigators notebook full of doodles - not navigation calculations. My conclusion was that some know and practice the training and some don't.
All factors like these are why I asked "If the navigator could choose - -".

My time with the A-10 was on land. I still get a fair amount of bubble movement. Part of this is due to my 70+ years but my thought was that I could move the reading dial to track the bubble if the sextant were ridgidly mounted but, handheld in an airplane and considering extra outside factors, it would be hard to know whether I was adjusting for outside forces or for my own shaking. I have read the articles recently posted on the increasing accuracy with multiple shots.

I was also probably thinking about other inherent inaccuracies in an airplane - but - also about the view from 8000 feet. Close counts when you can see a long way.

I realize that all bets are off if you are trying to find a field at night in wartime England.

Maybe I'm not cut out to be a WWII bomber navigator.

Regards, Noell