NavList:

I suppose one of the reasons RAF Waddington was set up where it was is because between the Viking Way to the west and the Roman Ermine Street to the east the terrain is almost perfectly flat (although an expert will tell you that good drainage for an airfield is more important than perfect flatness). In addition, the farmer appears to keep the hedges around his fields at a constant DaveP eyelevel.

Anyway, I saved getting my 10,000 steps in until this afternoon with the hope of spotting Venus in daylight. Result: Nothing seen. However, there were others up and about clearly enjoying such a fine day. Returning towards the Village and looking west my view of the Trent Valley was cut off by the hedge about 3-400 metres away on the far side of the field, and as the Sun was about to set, I wondered if there was any navigational value to be achieved from this. My intention was to take the time the LL of the Sun kissed the top of the opposite hedge to minimise refraction and get me home sooner for the usual ‘gentleman of a certain age’ reason. This was not a good idea. Even so close to the horizon, the Sun soon brings on (hopefully only temporary) blindness, so I had to wait for the UL to drop below the hedge, which is more difficult to assess.

For time recording I paused Frank’s GPS Anti Spoof Pro at the appropriate moment, and then I took a photograph of the Sun. This took a couple of seconds, which is why the UL is slightly below the top of the hedge. If it looks as if the Sun is moving anticlockwise, it’s because I moved position slightly between LL and UL shots to get a better view. As GPS Anti Spoof was reading Hs = 0° 10.8' when paused, I’m assuming my position line was 10.8 nm away, which I suppose can be improved with practice.

For anyone wishing to check this out, GPS Anti Spoof values when paused are set down below. You can use these to see what I was looking at using Google Maps Street View. Yes, Street View also photographs fields.

Time: 16:15:29UT
Position: N 53° 09.503’ W000° 32.437’ +- 3m live
Body: Sun UL(Hs)
Hs: 0°10.8’
No delay, Time adjust 1s.

Have fun. DaveP

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