NavList:

Frank wrote

Why don't we get rid of nautical miles and minutes of arc in celestial navigation? We can. Easily. The job could be done in under a year, and in my Modern Celestial workshops (next run at Mystic Seaport in late January and online in early February, we do everything with decimal degrees --still degrees, not "grads" but we get most of the arithmetic benefit). Why won't that be adopted more widely? There are many reasons both practical and cultural.

This raises a broader (and probably off-topic) question. Why not get rid of statute miles as well? I believe that there are one or two countries that still use imperial units.

If you want to retain tradition then why not measure wind speed on the Beaufort scale? FWIIW many decades ago I learned to fly a C150. I can still remember that Vr was 80 knots which is force 14 (after consulting a 1951 Manual of Seamanship). I mention this because not long ago  I read a weather forecast in which it seemed that the forecaster was thinking of the Beaufort scale as he wrote the forecast - but maybe it was my imagination!!!! I wish that I had kept a copy of the forecast.

David C