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Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:48 pm
by Burning Petard
Once again, the Western Capitalist system with it's myopic focus on the quarterly bottom line has had the geographic rug pulled out from under them. The magnetic north pole now is on the other side of the International Dateline, moving sneakily toward Russia.

If you dig out your old Boy Scout (Hey! Eagle Scouts can be girls now!) compass, it no longer points to Santa Claus, but to Siberia. Does Liberty know this?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/scie ... e=Homepage

And for MG Mech, if I fly out of Wichita before they get the runway repainted, on my way to Wichita Falls, Texas, in my single engine General Aviation plane, how far off am I likely to be? And does commercial aviation really depend on magnetic compasses?

snailgate.

Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 11:04 pm
by RayThom
The magnetic north pole's movement over the past five decades. National Centers for Environmental Information

Image

Re: Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 2:25 am
by MajGenl.Meade
A wall! We must build a wall to stop the MNP from illegally entering Russia and Canada will pay for it!

Re: Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:03 pm
by Big RR
Or rig up some sort of magnetic bottle to capture and keep the north pole free

Re: Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:19 pm
by MGMcAnick
Burning Petard wrote:And for MG Mech, if I fly out of Wichita before they get the runway repainted, on my way to Wichita Falls, Texas, in my single engine General Aviation plane, how far off am I likely to be? And does commercial aviation really depend on magnetic compasses?
snailgate.
I don't truly understand your first question as one won't be "off" due to one's initial runway heading even though the ICT magnetic headings are 4ยบ east off of true. Once airborne, one simply turns on-course.

There has been some discussion of re-naming the 19-01 R&L runways as 20-02 R&L due to the drift of magnetic north, but it has not happened yet, to my knowledge.

Both commercial and general aviation have almost totally gone to electronic navigation. After demonstrating compass navigation proficiency to get my license 41 years ago, I can't remember when I EVER navigated that way. That was also the last time I used my trusty (?) E6B. Looking out the window for landmarks works better. If I'm not flying VFR, I'm not flying, and I'm not flying anyway.

Since the price of a good aircraft GPS has come way down, most planes, new and old, are using that system. Even those who are flying antiques with no panel-installed radios are using hand held units for GPS navigation as well as communication. You can buy one for under $200.

There has also been some discussion of shutting down the 60+ year old VOR system as GPS is making it obsolete. GPS is FAR more accurate. VOR is not as obsolete as yellow painted concrete arrows, pointing to the next yellow painted concrete arrow, but close. I know where there are a couple, but their paint is long since faded.

This one is near where Knute Rockne was killed in a Ford Tri-Motor crash. http://www.dreamsmithphotos.com/arrow/S ... dison.html

Re: Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:45 pm
by ex-khobar Andy
I assumed that SG's question might be something to do with correcting the magnetic compass heading for deviation due to the plane itself. So if you are on runway 18 and the compass says 170 you know it is reading, at least in that direction, 10 degrees east of true magnetic. But it's always +/- 5 degrees so it's not a great way of establishing your deviation. I've boxed the compass (checked for deviation over a full 360 degrees) on a ship but never on a plane.

Re: Russia is stealing the North Pole

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:18 am
by MGMcAnick
There is, or at least is supposed to be, a compass deviation card on or very near the compass on every plane. Even the mass of the plane can cause some deviation from true N, S, E, or W.