Pilots: what do transoceanic airliners use to navigate across large expanses of water?
For this example, let's assume a flight from Anchorage (ANC) To Honolulu (HNL). I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer may be that they use some form of GPS, which begs the question: how did they navigate twenty years ago back when GPS was not even around?
Aircraft - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Yes, of course the use a GPS! As for when the GPS didn't exist, they might have used the stars (if flying by night), or the position of the sun (if by day). I'm sure they had some way of doing it.
2 :
GPS now, as you suggested, back 20 years ago, it was navigational fixes, operated by radio frequency. They used a setting on autopilot called RNAV which stands for Radio Naivgation, it required more work by the pilot because the sysem only knew that it was crossing the nav. point in terms of north south... (for example: if your nav. point was in Minnesota and you were flying over Missouri, it would take that as valid, it only understood Longitude...) therefore the pilot had to keep the course correct... The Korean Air 747 was shot down by the Soviet Union many years ago because it thought it was on course but due to pilot error, they were several hundred miles off course... also, airplanes are in communication with ATC over the oceans with oceanic centers and UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) radios.
3 :
Yes they use GPS now but before that they used LORAN (Long Range Navigation) and Inertial Navigation.
4 :
I think for example the spirit of St louis navigated accross the pond using the stars, then there was INS and now GPS
5 :
INS and GPS. UHF is only good for a few hundred miles, even from 40,000 feet with good transmit power. Pretty much the same story with VHF. An INS shouldn't drift more than a few miles per hour, even on military jets which manoeuvre a lot. Being 10 miles off after crossing the Atlantic is no big deal.
6 :
Lucky Lindy left a trail of bread crumbs...........
7 :
first of all your example isnt an example of a transatlantic flight. then they would use the stars and they had other tools twenty yearas ago
