[ARC5] YG,ZB question or two

[jmfranke]

The Naval Academy no longer teaches Celestial navigation.

John  WA4WDL old aircrewman, E-1B and E-2B
I still have a sextant or two! And, a few R-4/ARR-2 receivers
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Clarke, Tom   AIR4.0P NATOPS" <frederic.clarke at navy.mil>
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 2:04 PM
To: <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] YG,ZB question or two

> 
> I suspect a lot must have depended on good old DR navigation since the
> radio signals wouldn't have been available during radio silence and at
> long distances from Mother (the carrier). 
> 
> The aircraft crew knew the position of the carrier at launch, were
> briefed on the PIM (position of intended movement i.e., where the
> carrier would be located upon return), and by using airspeed, course
> flown, and wind (briefed or observed), they could DR themselves back
> home. Using his trusty E-6B Navigation computer ("whiz wheel") and a
> plastic maneuvering board (see explanation at:
> http://www.offsoundings.info/navl.htm) using a grease pencil to plot his
> track, our hero would usually get within visual range of mother and be
> able to enjoy a "slider" in the dirty shirt mess, rather than C rations
> from his life raft!
> 
> We are truly spoiled today with GPS, Inertial Navs, LORAN (not so much
> anymore) giving incredible accuracy to navigation.  You can get within
> meters of the desired position. True navigation is not taught much
> anymore, it is mostly a big video game!  Ask a new pilot what the "nav
> triangle" is and you will get some interesting answers!
> 
> Tom/W4OKW
> An old pilot and an older navigator!
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kenneth G. Gordon [mailto:kgordon2006 at frontier.com] 
> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 11:35 AM
> To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] YG,ZB question or two
> 
> On 1 Jul 2011 at 9:46, jcoward5452 at aol.com wrote:
> 
>> Folks,
>>  Did catapult launched float planes from cruisers use the YG/ZB system
> 
>> to return to their cruiser? Thanks,
> 
> Another question or two: did carrier pilots rely soley on the YG/ZB
> system to return to their ships, or were they well enough trained and
> equiped to return at least to the vicinity without it?
> 
> Were there very many pilots who were lost because of failure of the
> system?
> 
> Why is so little known about its use? Before becoming a member of this
> list, I had never heard of it.
> 
> Since radio silence was such a critical part of naval operations in a
> war zone, was radio silence routinely broken to talk pilots home?
> 
> Ken Gordon W7EKB
> 
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