Navigation School Research Articles

R.A.F. Central Navigation and Control School arctic flights, 1951

R.A.F. Central Navigation and Control School arctic flights, 1951

British Empire Air Navigation School arctic flights, 1947 and 1948

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Thurlow Navigation Award for 1948 : Mr. D. H. Sadler

THE Thurlow Navigation Award of the United States Institute of Navigation was founded in 1946 by Mr. Sherman Fairchild (president of the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, Inc.) in memory of the famous air navigator Colonel Thomas L. Thurlow, who was killed in an air accident in 1944. The award is made each year to the person who, in the opinion of a representativo selection committee, contributes most to the science of navigation. The first award, in 1946, for the year 1945 was made to Wing-Commander K. C. Maclure, who was navigator of Aries on its flights to the north magnetic and geographical poles. That for 1946 was made to John A. Pierce, the originator of the Loran system of radio hyperbolic navigation, and that for 1947 to Dr. John C. Bellamy, inventor of the Bellamy drift indicator. The award for 1948 has been made to Mr. Donald' H. Sadler, superintendent of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, in recognition of the work of the Office in the field of air navigation, particularly the production for the Royal Air Force of the "Air Almanac" and the "Astronomical Navigation Tables". More recently, the Office, which is part of the Royal Observatory, has been completely redesigning the "Abridged Nautical Almanac", so as to tabulate Greenwich hour angle instead of Right Ascension, and the new form will simplify the sea navigator's task. Because the new methods involve change of syllabus at the navigation schools and other changes, the introduction of the "Almanac" will be deferred until the year 1952. Mr. Sadler joined the Nautical Almanac Office in 1930, after doing research at the University of Cambridge, and was promoted to the post of superintendent in 1936. He was secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society during 1939–47 and vice-president in 1947–48. He played a large part in the formation of the [British] Institute of Navigation.

III.—Institute Comment

The questionnaire shown below was circulated to all members of the Institute. In the following analysis of the replies, forms completed by members with no experience or direct concern with surface navigation have been disregarded. The substance of replies received from members in the Royal Navy has been given separately. It has not been possible to detect any marked unanimity in the answers given by Examiners, Navigation School instructors, Marine Superintendents,&c., and these have been included under the heading of Merchant Navy.The detailed comment given is taken from the discussion at the Meeting and from letters and memoranda sent in to the Institute. In some cases it refers (e.g. layout, &c.) to matter not reproduced in the Journal. For convenience of reading reference numbers have been given to the authors of comment.

RÉSUMÉ OF NAVIGATION TRAINING IN THE ARMY AIR FORCES*

NAVIGATIONVolume 1, Issue 4 p. 86-87 RÉSUMÉ OF NAVIGATION TRAINING IN THE ARMY AIR FORCES* Clay V. Ferguson, Clay V. Ferguson Major Army Air Forces Major Ferguson graduated from the Pan American navigation school at Coral Gables, Florida, in 1941 as one of the first specialist navigators in the AAF. After serving in several capacities in the Training Command, he joined the 8th Air Force in the European theater. He is now navigation advisor on the advisory board of the AAF Department of Research and Development at Mather Field, California.Search for more papers by this author Clay V. Ferguson, Clay V. Ferguson Major Army Air Forces Major Ferguson graduated from the Pan American navigation school at Coral Gables, Florida, in 1941 as one of the first specialist navigators in the AAF. After serving in several capacities in the Training Command, he joined the 8th Air Force in the European theater. He is now navigation advisor on the advisory board of the AAF Department of Research and Development at Mather Field, California.Search for more papers by this author First published: December 1946 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-4296.1946.tb01100.x † Presented at the Los Angeles meeting of the Institute, June 27, 1946. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume1, Issue4December 1946Pages 86-87 RelatedInformation

THE ARCTIC FLIGHTS OF THE LANCASTER “ARIES,” MAY 1945*

In February 1945, the Air Ministry in Great Britain directed the Empire Air Navigation School, in Shawbury, England, to carry out a number of experimental flights in the regions of the north magnetic and north geographic poles. The flights were successfully completed in May 1945; the full official report will be made available to the Institute as soon as it is completed. Unfortmiately, this report has been longer in preparation than was hoped, for several reasons, one of which was the large number of magnetic observations requiring analysis.

Proposed North Polar Flights

SEVERAL flights over the north geographical pole have been made since Rear-Admiral R. E. Byrd, U.S.N., made the flight in 1926 using Spitsbergen as a base. Most important was the Soviet expedition of 1937–38, but more flights are required, not probably for geographical discovery but for magnetic and meteorological research. Flights over Arctic Canada have been made on several occasions. It is now announced that a series of flights over both the geographical and magnetic poles are being made by an expedition from the Empire Air Navigation School of R.A.F. Flying Training Command. The aircraft used is the Lancaster Aries which was flown round the world last autumn by Wing-Commander D. C. McKinley. Four new Rolls-Royce Merlin XXIV engines have been installed. The base of the expedition is in Iceland, at least for the flights over the geographical pole. A Canadian base will later be used for flights over the north magnetic pole in Boothia Peninsula. The objects of the flights are stated to be. to examine the behaviour of compasses and automatic dead-reckoning gear, and to collect data on engine handling as well as magnetism and meteorology. The plane carries food for four weeks, sledging gear and arctic kit. The crew, all told, numbers eight and includes a medical officer, Wing-Commander R. H. Winfield.

Air Navigation and Secondary School Mathematics

The World's Fair of 1939 has the distinction of being the first of its kind to be heralded around the world by men from the air. The flight of Howard Hughes and his men will long be remembered by millions of Americans who followed his progress hour by hour around the globe. The speed of the trip startled the whole nation. The constant radio contact between the plane and the rest of the world was especially remarkable. The flight followed a prearranged schedule with such precision that the distance traveled was only twenty miles greater than the planned mileage.

Reviews of Books

Abstract The Perils of Amateur Strategy. by lieut.-General Sir Gerald Ellison, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. (Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd.) The Study of War. An inaugural lecture delivered before the University of Oxford on 23rd February, 1926. By Major-General Sir Ernest Swinton, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., Chichele Professor of Military History in the University of Oxford. (Clarendon Press, 1926.) The History of H.M. Navigation School, 1729–1926. By Lieutenant R.K. Dickson, R.N. (Private Circulation.) Elementary Tactics or the Art of War, British School. By Major R. P. Pakenham-Walsh, M.C., P.S.C. (Sifton Praed & Co., Ltd., London.) History of the 40th Division. By Lieut.-Colonel F. E. Whitton, C.M.G. (Gale and Polden.) Common Mistakes in the Solution of Tactical Problems and How to Avoid Them. By Brevet Lieut.-Colonel A. B. Bauman, D.S.O., P.S.C., The York and Lancaster Regiment. (Hugh Rees, Ltd., London.) The Print Collectors' Quarterly. Vol. XIII, No. 1, February, 1926. Military Prints by Colonel C. de W. Crookshank, M.P. Kekewich in Kimberley; being an Account of the Defence of the Diamond Field, October 14th, 1899–February 15th, 1900. By Lieut.-Colonel W.A. J. O'Meara, C.M.G., late Royal Engineers, Chief Staff Officer in Kimberley during the Siege. (The Medici Society, Ltd.) Historical Memoirs of the Royal Naval Club of 1765 and The Navy Club of 1785-now the Royal Navy Club. The Royal Berkshire Regiment. (Princess Charlotte of Wales'.) By F. Loraine Petre, O.B.E.

Frederic Douglas Addyman, L.C.C. School of Engineering and Navigation, High Street, Poplar, London, E. 14

Frederic Douglas Addyman, L.C.C. School of Engineering and Navigation, High Street, Poplar, London, E. 14

George Beaver Croucher, F.R.G.S., Principal Grimsby Navigation School and Technical School for Fishermen, Grimsby;

George Beaver Croucher, F.R.G.S., Principal Grimsby Navigation School and Technical School for Fishermen, Grimsby;

Notes on Meteorological Observations at Plymouth

The meteorological observations at Plymouth Navigation School, carried on for a period of more than twenty-six years by Dr. J. Merrifield, ceased on his death in June last. It seemed desirable that Plymouth should not be without an observing station, and as the Association was undertaking other work of a similar nature it was decided to begin observations on the scale of a station of the second order.