NAVIGATION OF SOLAR ECLIPSE FLIGHT APEQS

W. B. Klemperer and A. G. Heimerdinger

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	The navigational strategy which governed the National Geographic Society-Douglas Aircraft Company solar eclipse flight expedition APEQS on July 20, 1963, is discussed. The navigation procedure was largely dictated by the weather; a cloud undercast obscured the landmarks, but only scant radio aids were available in the sparsely inhabited region of northwestern Canada. Instrumentation aboard, otherwise conforming to that regularly installed in domestic transport aircraft, was supplemented by a sun compass. The actual passage through the umbra was flown on autopilot. The autopilot system had been made especially sensitive and tuned to optimal operation under actual flight conditions. The degree of aircraft stabilization achieved during passage is documented.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 11, Number 2
Pages:	99 - 109
Cite this article:	Klemperer, W. B., Heimerdinger, A. G., "NAVIGATION OF SOLAR ECLIPSE FLIGHT APEQS", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 11, No. 2, Summer 1964, pp. 99-109.
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