Long x-country...

Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

*********************************************

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 08:55:58 -0700, Jay Honeck
wrote:

Well, as I type this our 17-year-old is on his long cross country
flight, on a picture-perfect Midwestern fall day.

Imagine yourself a teenager again, alone in a clapped out old Cessna
150, high above the harvested cornfields of Iowa, trying to find
Grinnell, Ames and Iowa City without so much as a GPS on board!

Luckily he's inherited Mary's sense of direction, so he stands a good
chance of making it...

;-)

On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere? When I got my training in Ohio, I
was never taught to use the furrow/fence lines in navigation, and I
never even noticed that they could be useful for such. Once I started
instructing in California, I happened to notice they can be really
helpful in navigating, and I now can't imagine trying to navigate
without them.

"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.

That rules out 95% of Iowa (and the rest of the plains)...

"ManhattanMan" wrote in message
...
Morgans wrote:
"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.

That rules out 95% of Iowa (and the rest of the plains)...
Fence lines typically run along property lines, and since the overwhelming
majority of property lines are configured N-S and E-W, it only stands to
reason that fence lines would also, regardless of terrain.


--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"ManhattanMan" wrote in message
...
Morgans wrote:
"buttman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 28, 10:14 am, Big John wrote:
Jay

Be sure and remind him that the fence lines run N-S and E-W in Iowa.
Great help in navigation.

Big John

Don't they run like that everywhere?

Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.

That rules out 95% of Iowa (and the rest of the plains)...
Fence lines typically run along property lines, and since the overwhelming
majority of property lines are configured N-S and E-W, it only stands to
reason that fence lines would also, regardless of terrain.


--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

I believe that a lot of property in the original 13 states has been
subdivided from plots that predated the grid system. A lot of the old
descriptions follow ridge lines, rivers and streams, and a lot of old roads
and trails. In any case, I can attest that landmarks along cardinal compass
points are the exception rather then the rule in the western parts of the
Carolinas and Virginia.

OTOH, magnetic north is close enough to true north in those same areas to
easily place the next waypoint/landmark in easy view. Therefore, the
hardship is not nearly so great as it might be further west.

Just my $0.02
Peter

"Peter Dohm"

I believe that a lot of property in the original 13 states has been
subdivided from plots that predated the grid system. A lot of the old
descriptions follow ridge lines, rivers and streams, and a lot of old
roads and trails. In any case, I can attest that landmarks along cardinal
compass points are the exception rather then the rule in the western parts
of the Carolinas and Virginia.

What he said.

More often than not, the property in my area (Western NC) follows streams,
ridges, and roads. The roads were usually laid out following streams, or
ridges, or easy ways to cross ridges from one population center to the next.
--
Jim in NC

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
.. .

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"ManhattanMan" wrote in message


Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.

That rules out 95% of Iowa (and the rest of the plains)...
Fence lines typically run along property lines, and since the
overwhelming majority of property lines are configured N-S and E-W, it
only stands to reason that fence lines would also, regardless of terrain.


--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

I believe that a lot of property in the original 13 states has been
subdivided from plots that predated the grid system. A lot of the old
descriptions follow ridge lines, rivers and streams, and a lot of old
roads and trails.

As you said: subdivided. Those old boundaries are long gone. Even at that,
the layout of the plots were done in sectors, and layout out a property with
weird angles was just that much more difficult.

In any case, I can attest that landmarks along cardinal compass points
are the exception rather then the rule in the western parts of the
Carolinas and Virginia.

Landmarks, or grid references? They're not the same. No surveyor or
reference plotter is going to make his work that much more difficult. Though
I'm sure some very old plots run all over the board, any property subdivided
in the last 200 years is going to use cardinal directions.

OTOH, magnetic north is close enough to true north in those same areas to
easily place the next waypoint/landmark in easy view. Therefore, the
hardship is not nearly so great as it might be further west.

Surveyors knew to layout true north long before.


Just my $0.02
Peter

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:22:26 -0400, "Morgans"
wrote:

Nope. In hilly terrain, they run any-which-way.

This is true in New England.

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:48:44 -0000, buttman wrote:



Don't they run like that everywhere? When I got my training in Ohio,

Sportys, or a certain university?