Navigation with Some Early Australian Air Pioneers

Ronald C.C. Houghton

Abstract:	This paper considers the initial problems of the early aviators when flying over land where there were no radio beacons or navigation aids. In the outback of Australia the country is noticeably devoid of landmarks or significant features, which would provide adequate fixing. Over water flights provided further challenges at a much higher level. Maritime navigation was well understood, but how were these skills of using a marine sextant to be transferred to aviators who at best had a rudimentary knowledge of navigation. Various fixing methods employed by the early pilot/navigators with their order of accuracy are critically examined. Some emphasis has been placed on several of the pioneer flights of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who transited the Pacific Ocean from Oakland to Brisbane via Hawaii and Fiji in 1928. Results achieved on long over water flights would generally be considered to be in line with the poor level of fixing, aircraft instrumentation, and calibration, where accuracy of ±100 nautical miles was more the norm. There was a total lack of understanding of true airspeed vs. indicated or calibrated airspeed. Fuel used estimates differed between Kingsford Smith and his copilot, Charles Ulm, by as much as 27.5% Despite the many weather deviations, poor fixing and miscalculations, making a long trail blazing flight into unknown sky’s became the catalyst for commercial services across the Pacific in the following decade. Firstly the Clippers from the U.S. to China via Honolulu and Manila. Then followed the trans-pacific service from Sydney to San Francisco via Fiji Canton Island and Honolulu.
Published in:	Proceedings of the IAIN World Congress and the 56th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2000) June 26 - 28, 2000 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	502 - 509
Cite this article:	Houghton, Ronald C.C., "Navigation with Some Early Australian Air Pioneers," Proceedings of the IAIN World Congress and the 56th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2000), San Diego, CA, June 2000, pp. 502-509.
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