NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Howard G
Date: 2023 May 28, 19:22 -0700
Replying to:
"This is a star finder not very different from a 2102D star finder, but with a twist. The twist is that it includes overlays to show what stars are visible to the early Hound-dog missile star tracker which was about the middle 1960s. "
As an RNZAF navigator we were issued with a much more sophisticated star finder. I still have mine from 1970s. We were just told – learn where each of the 54 navigational stars are and we could be tested at anytime. Red are the stars we used.
To learn them like this played well when doing 3 star fixes travelling at 400 kts – your beautifully calculated 3 star fix approx. 120 deg apart could quickly become covered partially in cloud. Travelling at 6.5 nms per minute you were 65 kms past where it was clear. Weather and hi alt cloud changes very quickly especially the high Nth or Sth latitudes By then I was using my trusty HP 41CV to calculate very quickly . I quick look out to see what stars were visible ( north or southern hemisphere) – we could be at 50 South 1 week and the next week 45 North so being able to quickly find and ident stars was a must. I cannot now – but will brush up on my view when I get time.
Or, if you needed a fix – you identified a star – wherever it was clear – took a 2 minute shot – picked another star either at 120 or 90 deg depending on the cloud and shot it – then used your HP 41CV to do the calculations quickly. I think I was the only one on the squadron at that time doing it. Everyone else used log tables the old way.
Howard G
