The errors that occur in aircraft and small, fast vessels during alterations of course or speed can be avoided by mounting the compass on a platform kept horizontal by a gyroscope. The directive element must be nonpendulous. The vertical pin supporting the compass needle can be pivoted at both ends, or an inductor element can be employed. In one such arrangement, a saturable-inductor compass (so named because of its use of materials that can be readily induced to carry a maximum magnetic flow, or magnetic saturation) is mounted on a gyroscope, but this is not always convenient from the point of view of size and weight.
Another system has a means of comparison between the gyroscope heading and that of the magnetic element. The gyroscope maintains a specific directional line in space with a possible error caused by drift of two or three degrees in each half hour that the gyroscope is left free. The utility of this instrument may appear to be very limited, but it happens to complement the magnetic compass very well. By itself, neither is satisfactory as a directional reference, but a combination of the directional gyroscope with a magnetic compass gives the pilot complete and stable directional information. The relatively slow drift of the directional gyroscope from its heading may be corrected manually from time to time when the airplane is in level and straight flight.
The gyrocompass
The direction a gyrocompass points is independent of the magnetic field of the Earth and depends upon the properties of the gyroscope and upon the rotation of the Earth. The axis of a free gyroscope will describe a circle around the pole of the heavens. To convert it into a gyrocompass, a control must be introduced that, when the axis tilts, will operate to precess (turn) it toward the meridian. The case of the gyroscope is made pendulous, or a liquid is arranged to flow from side to side. Either will convert the path traced by the axis into an ellipse. By delaying the flow of the liquid or by making eccentric the point of action of the control, a damping factor is introduced that converts the ellipse into a spiral so that the gyrocompass eventually settles pointing true north (see ).
William Edward May John Lawrance Howard Tom S. LogsdonInstruments
The tactical management of a craft demands, for steering, continuous indication of heading and speed through the water or air and, for the propulsion system, information—either continuous or on demand—on engine speed, temperatures at critical regions, fuel flow, and fuel supply. In a modern aircraft, continuous monitoring by the crew of the numerous variables is impractical; instead, each instrument that indicates the value of a critical variable is designed so that any departure beyond specified limits is brought to the attention of the crew by warning lights, audible signals, or, in the particular case of airspeed, “stick shake”—that is, artificially induced vibration of the control column in the event that indicated airspeed falls close to stalling speed.
Rate of climb and, particularly, rate of descent must be indicated continuously because of their vital safety connotations. Rate of turn also is important in aircraft, and it is sometimes indicated in ships.
Airspeed is correctly indicated by the Pitot apparatus only if the air has the density typical at sea level at 59 °F (15 °C). Altitude has a major effect on air density, and temperature has a minor one; in modern aircraft, indicated airspeed, altitude, and temperature are combined by a computer that indicates true airspeed and Mach number. Similarly, the independently operating compass, artificial horizon (an instrument that shows the degree of pitch and roll), and other instruments have been integrated into a so-called attitude and heading reference system.
The combination of daylight-visible optical displays with systems for storage and retrieval of digital data simplifies the design of aircraft cockpits and ship bridges by allowing the presentation of essential information on demand, relieving the navigator of the task of interpreting the readings of numerous separate indicators.
S.S.D. Jones Tom S. LogsdonCollision avoidance
The illustrates the calculation of an airplane’s true ground velocity. Similar techniques can be used to calculate the course an airplane must avoid to prevent collision with another aircraft. In the figure the wind is replaced by the course and speed of the other craft drawn in the opposite direction. What was track and ground speed in the figure becomes the line of sight to the craft to be intercepted and the speed at which the two planes are approaching each other. If both planes maintain the speeds and directions indicated in the figure, a collision will occur.
Modern techniques are based on collision-avoidance theory, which states that, if a course is altered in a direction opposite to that in which the line of sight to another craft is changing, the miss distance will be increased. Thus, if a ship is apparently traveling across the bow to the left, the miss distance will be increased if the course is altered to the right. If the other ship is on the same course but moving ahead, the miss distance will be increased by slowing down. Traditional “rules of the road” at sea require two ships meeting head-on both to turn right. The turn has to be sharp to be effective and to make intentions clear. Aircraft, which are too small and fast for visual avoidance, depend on systematic separation of flight paths.