Reply To: What got you interested in Celestial Navigation?

[manxcat]

To: Mcaminos From: manxcat
Navigators such as Gary LaPook and William Polhemus have used 1937 astronautical almanacs to recreate what Fred Nonoon’s ‘pre-flight plan’ may have looked like for the Amelia Earhart World Flight. The late William Polhemus actually flew, as navigator, for the first Commemorative A.E. World Flight in 1967. They used a restored Lockheed Electra for the entire flight around the world, at or near the equator. I believe Polhemus took astral sights with a bubble octant / sextant every half-hour along with wind direction & speed throughout the night before siting the original A.E. destination of Howland Island–which, of course, A. E. and Nonoon missed in 1937. The principle pilot for the 1967 Commemorative was Ann H. Pellegreno. The entire 1967 flight crew were exceptionally qualified for this flight. William Polhemus was a past president of the Institute of Navigation and gave a speech regarding his navigation during the ’67 flight, along with his opinions about where Nonoon and Earhart may have messed up on what was likely the final leg of their abortive flight. (HINT: Amelia may have lost some of her famous composure in a very tight situation.)
Gary LaPook is a pilot who owns several bubble octants / sextants and is a celnav buff with a lot of experience… he is the kind of celnav hobbyist that your wrote about in your recent post. He also has made a detailed study of the A.E. 1937 flight that you can read Online at frenoonon site

As Amelia Earhart signed off on her letters:
Cheers
–Joseph