Why are headings still magnetic?

Stefan wrote:

Mxsmanic schrieb:

When will true headings be used?

Never, I hope, as it would render the whisky compass as a reliable
navigation aid near to useless.


Eventually, the magnetic poles will move so far that every station and
aircraft everywhere will have to be recalibrated to account for it,
and all charts will have to be changed.

I'm hoping you fly with the newest maps.

Mxs doesn't fly except in the back of an Airbus or with a computer
monitor/Microsoft flight simulator. Take his remarks in that context.



And the poles occasionally reverse,

Occasionally... :-)))

Stefan

In article ,
RK Henry wrote:

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:09:20 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Thomas Borchert writes:

And having true heading (and only that) changes this problem how?

It doesn't. But true north doesn't move, and it's right at the top of
standard maps.

Except that apparently true north DOES move. The tsunami/earthquake of
a year and a half ago reportedly caused the north pole to shift about
an inch as well as decreasing the length of a day. Just goes to show,
you can't depend on anything.

RK Henry

Not to mention that the pole itself moves around. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler_wobble

Mxsmanic wrote:
Thomas Borchert writes:

And having true heading (and only that) changes this problem how?

It doesn't. But true north doesn't move, and it's right at the top of
standard maps.

Well, back in the 1400s or so, north was at the bottom of maps!

Stubby writes:

Well, back in the 1400s or so, north was at the bottom of maps!

You need to buy some new charts.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 20:31:27 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

RK Henry writes:

Except that apparently true north DOES move. The tsunami/earthquake of
a year and a half ago reportedly caused the north pole to shift about
an inch as well as decreasing the length of a day. Just goes to show,
you can't depend on anything.

All earthquakes cause such effects. However, if they produce changes
that are below the resolution threshold of avionics, they aren't a
problem. The magnetic pole, on the other hand, moves perceptibly over
time--enough to require new charts and new regulation of stations and
instruments.

So does GPS. The system changes over intervals of hours, with such
factors as satellite outages or signal propagation, rather than the
months or years that it takes for magnetic variations. Generally, the
GPS computer applies corrections automatically. That makes it
transparent to the user, but it doesn't mean that the system is
inherently perfect. If GPS were inherently perfect, WAAS would be
unnecessary.

All instruments are inaccurate. In order to use them you have to
calibrate them.

RK Henry

Mxsmanic wrote:
Stubby writes:

Well, back in the 1400s or so, north was at the bottom of maps!

You need to buy some new charts.

Nah. They are on the walls of a museum somewhere. In Venice in the
Ducal Palace of the Doge, I believe. But "north at the bottom" was the
accepted convention. I don't know what made them change but that would
be interesting, too.

Stubby schrieb:

Nah. They are on the walls of a museum somewhere. In Venice in the
Ducal Palace of the Doge, I believe. But "north at the bottom" was the
accepted convention. I don't know what made them change but that would
be interesting, too.

Maybe the magnetic poles reversed? :-P

Mxsmanic wrote:
In modern aircraft, a failure of electrical systems brings a lot more
problems than mere navigation errors. No radio, no other navaids, no
control surfaces in some aircraft, no propulsion in some aircraft.

And while a compass shows magnetic north, that's all it shows. You
have no idea how far north or south you are, or which direction to fly
to your destination.

You "fly" a PC flight simulator (game)... Even if the poles do shift,
it's not going to effect your game, so don't worry about it...

You are obviously on the wrong newsgroup... Perhaps you should go to
comp.pc.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim or rec.aviation.simulators and leave
this group for real pilots...