The dead reckoning that oldtime sailors used in bad weather when they could not shoot the sun has a modern counterpart "in Ryan Aeronautical Co.'s recently announced long-range air navigation system. The sailors estimated their speed, leeway and the effect of ocean currents to give them their rough position. The Ryan Automatic Navigator does much the same thing by making a fix on some object whose position is known (e.g., the Pentagon). While still within radar range, the instruments tell the ground speed, etc., by radar observations. With increasing distance, the instruments operate on their own, by sensing delicately each force...
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