My title is deliberately rather similar to that of Jed Williams' book because it was from his erudite and comprehensive work that I drew my inspiration. There are many volumes dealing with radio navaid engineering development but few, if any, about the very real and practical problems faced by navigators of interpreting, sometimes under very difficult circumstances, what they presented. Very few navigators of the 40s and 50s were expert draughtsman or academicians with degrees in mathematics or electronics, yet they were expected to comprehend and apply concepts that a few years earlier would have earned them such degrees. These fundamental problems of interpretation also seem to have been rather lost on some of those who were responsible for choosing which radio navaids to install. I have terminated my survey at the ‘steam’ era, rather than going all the way to ‘satellites’, not only because we have heard so much of satellites lately that it is time to give them a rest, but also because it was computers — the ‘ steam’ of navaids — that got us into the modern age of automated navaids when interpretation became far easier and the need for specialists doing little else vanished. My own experience is that of an aerial navigator so I hope our marine and land-based members will not object if I confine my remarks to aviation.

This paper and the following four papers were presented at the EURNAV-96 conference, held in London, 18–19 June 1996 and organized jointly by the Royal Institute of Navigation and the German Institute of Navigation. Copies of the full proceedings, comprising some 22 papers, may be obtained from the Director of the RIN.

I am delighted to be here at the EURNAV-96 conference. Vehicle navigation, location and control is a special interest of mine and I have no doubts about its value and potential.

Road transport plays a vital part in the UK economy and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. However, the environmental issues surrounding transport are also of growing concern to the nation, with roads seen as a key element in the environmental debate. These two issues are in conflict, with one pointing to the need for greater road capacity to accommodate more vehicles while the other suggests a limit on road space and fewer vehicles. The Highways Agency has a responsibility to help resolve this dilemma and is doing so by placing increased emphasis on making more efficient use of existing roads.

This paper and the following three papers were presented at the Institute's NAV-96 Conference, “Global Navigation — Where are we now?” The Conference was held in London In November 1996. Copies of the full proceedings may be obtained on application to the Director, price £35 for members and £50 for non-members.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in London require data on the performance likely to be achieved by the navigation system on board aircraft flying in UK airspace. To that end the performance of three different GPS receiver types (all designed for aviation use) have been examined. This paper details the result of that work. The achieved Mean Time Between Failures (referred to here as ‘Outages’) MTBO is presented along with the nature of some of the failures that have been encountered. The paper concludes with the operational implication of the findings.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) as a public use local area differential GPS system. The LAAS is required to support all categories of precision approach navigation. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the FAA's LAAS technical activities and programme plans. First, the complementary roles of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and LAAS are summarized. Then technical activities are discussed, including requirements, system architecture, and flight tests. The paper concludes with a summary of the FAA's plans for LAAS, including the planned schedule of major programme activities.

ROMANSE — Road Management System for Europe — is multi-million pound pilot project based in Southampton. It aims to use Advanced Transport Telematics (ATT) to develop the city as a model for transport management systems across Europe. ROMANSE achieves this by providing realtime traffic and travel information to influence travel behaviour, increase the use of public transport, maximize the efficiency of the transport system and provide high-quality information for use in strategic policy decisions.

In this Golden Jubilee year of the Institute it is befitting that the theme of my Presidential Address should be ‘The State of the Institute’. Since the formation of the Institute in 1947, Council has continually addressed this theme, recognizing the need throughout the years to maintain a twin-track approach. One track has been to address navigation issues, relying heavily for solutions on the expertise of members, and the other track has been to adopt measures which secure the future for the Institute. The first track has presented little problem, for within the Institute there are many experts, ranging from the practitioners of the art of navigation to the practitioners of the science and understanding of navigation and its associated disciplines. It is the second track, concerned with the future of the Institute, that requires Officers and Council to steer a sensible safe course around ominous thunder clouds that develop as rapidly as those in the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Following the initial development of 20-channel, all-in-view Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), GPS/GLONASS/Inmarsat-3, receivers at the Institute of Satellite Navigation (ISN), University of Leeds, a modification programme has been undertaken to allow real-time differential corrections to be sent from one 20-channel receiver to another identical receiver using a serial link between them. The differential correction software incorporates the RTCM SC-104 and RTCA DO-217 format developed specifically for GPS and adjusted by the ISN to allow simultaneous GLONASS operation.

After successful laboratory testing, real-time differential GNSS tests were successfully completed in static mode between Aberdeen and Leeds via the SkyFix differential data-link, and in dynamic mode at DTEO Boscombe Down using a C-band data-link between the ground and a receiver on board the DRA BAC 1–11 aircraft. The aims of the tests were, (i) to demonstrate real-time differential GNSS position-fixing, (ii) to establish the accuracy improvements brought about, and (iii) to examine the effects of data-link latency and satellite PDOP on the solution accuracy.

The Institute of Navigation was born on 12 March 1947 in the Boardroom of Lloyds Register of Shipping. More will be said of this later, but the birth is well documented and defined.

It will surprise no one that the conception is much less easily defined, but it is certainly no less significant a part of the genesis of the Institute. This article is an attempt to outline the early history of the Institute.

During 1944 and 1945 an Institute of Navigation was formed in the United States and, in May 1945, it held its first Annual General Meeting with Professor Sam Herrick — a well-known American astronomer — as its Executive Secretary. Its meetings were attended by the Navigation Specialist on the British Air Commission in Washington (Squadron Leader D. O. Fraser) and duly reported back, through the Commission, to the Air Ministry in the United Kingdom.

Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control (AICC) will be marketed by a number of vehicle manufacturers before the end of the decade. This paper will describe AICC and the next generation systems currently being developed and validated within the EC Fourth Framework project, Anti-Collision Autonomous Support and Safety Intervention SysTem (AC ASSIST).

The currently available cruise control systems which maintain a fixed speed are a well-known form of longitudinal driver support. The fixed speed cruise control becomes less useful with increased traffic volumes, as the driver must disable the system when a slower preceding vehicle is encountered.

In a paper in 1988 it was confidently predicted that there would be a commercial dynamic route guidance system operating in London by about 1992. When in 1993 a review was conducted of why the optimism of the late 1980s had not been played out in reality, there were four main reasons given for the delays:

(i) Availability of mapping data.

(ii) Establishment of good traffic monitoring networks.

(iii) Choice of communication method.

(iv) Need for integration with other Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) services.

The first issue of the Journal of the Institute of Navigation (Journal of Navigation since 1972 when the Institute assumed the title Royal) appeared in January 1948, ten months after the Institute's foundation. It may be appropriate now, some fifty years later, to record some of its history. The Journal was published ‘Under the authority of the Council and edited by the Executive Secretary’ (an appellation later changed to Director), a situation that was to remain constant so far as personnel goes for the next thirty-six years. It was printed by William Clowes and published by John Murray.

Eurofix is an integrated navigation system, which combines Differential GNSS and Loran-C. The Loran-C system is used to provide differential corrections for the GNSS pseudo-range measurements and integrity information by additionally modulating the transmitted signals. This modulation, however, is not allowed to degrade normal Loran-C operations. As data transmission is hindered by the aggressive Loran-C signal environment, special modulation patterns and Forward Error Correcting codes are designed to fulfil the requirements. Compared to other DGNSS services, Eurofix has a number of advantages: It covers a large area, its implementation in an already existing infrastructure is basically low-cost, it offers enhanced datalink availability in urban and mountainous environment, it has wide-area capabilities and, finally, it provides a free backup navigation system in case either Loran-C or GPS fails.

The paper describes the Eurofix system, focusing on the Loran-C data channel. A modified RTCM type-9 message format is used with special Forward Error Correction. At Delft University a real-life test set-up has been built to evaluate the Eurofix performance for different scenarios. The results on datalink and DGNSS performance are presented. It is shown that metre-level DGNSS performance is achievable with low bit rate data channels, using Loran-C stations at up to 1000 km distance.

To follow Mike Richey's authoritative article on the launch and subsequent development of the Journal is almost as daunting a task as it has been to follow his thirty-nine years as Editor.

My own time in post has amounted to a mere eleven years, a period which I have found both enjoyable and rewarding. Mike set and maintained a very high standard in the content and in the presentation of the Journal. Such was die reputation and the standing of the Journal that few changes were needed, and it was straightforward enough to continue on much the same lines. Straightforward, but not at all easy. It was only when I took over as Editor that I fully appreciated the care and attention to detail that Mike had invested in producing volume after volume to such a consistently high standard. Fortunately I have always had a dedicated and efficient Assistant Editor, most recently, Rebecca Dudley.

This paper and the following 5 papers were presented at the Institute's RIN-96 Conference, held at the University of Southampton, in September 1996. Copies of the complete Proceedings may be obtained from the Director. Price £6 members, £8.50 non-members.

This is a time of unprecedented change in radio-navigation systems and practices. The rapid development of satellite technology is challenging navigation authorities in every country to question the future of terrestrial navigation systems. The technical adequacy of the new techniques is being demonstrated in many applications but there remain serious questions concerning the reliability, integrity and political control of the current satellite systems and their long-term future.

The paper describes the operational principles of the present satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) and GLONASS. It compares them with terrestrial aids, identifying their advantages and drawbacks. Accuracy, availability and integrity are considered. The reasons for the development of differential operation are examined.

Finally, the paper looks at the future of satellite systems and addresses some of the difficult institutional issues concerning satellite navigation with which navigation authorities worldwide are having to grapple. It reviews the development of the future Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and identifies the economic benefits it could bring.

Integrated Command, Control, Communication and Information (C3I) Systems have developed a language of their own, drawing heavily on acronyms and information technology terminology, resulting in the impression being given to the uninitiated that either a black art is being practised or at least there is a mystique unknown in other complex systems. No master plan or model exists for C3I systems, and their very existence is predicated primarily on the need to fulfil two basic requirements. First, they exist where there is a need at the highest level of management of an international or national authority, or of a large company, or of a large organization, to exercise real-time optimum use of the total and diverse resources available to the corporate body in pursuit of its mission, charter or commercial goal. Secondly, at the lowest level, C3I systems exist to help an individual, or a machine, or a sensor, to perform a given task or rôle more effectively. The integration of emergency services and the operation of large modern transportation systems are among the civilian systems that stand to gain most from the use of integrated C3I systems.

This report was first published in the Journal in 1966 (Vol. 19, p. 411). In its reprinted form it has been abridged by omitting detailed recommendations for the establishment of separation areas and recommended routes in the Baltic, the North Sea, the Dover Strait, and the English Channel to Gibraltar. These recommendations were included in the original section 7. The report is followed by comments from Norman Cockcroft.

In 1961 the Institutes of Navigation in Great Britain and France, with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Ortung und Navigation, formed a representative Working Group to go into the question of regulating traffic in converging areas at sea with particular reference to the Dover Strait. The Group's Report, which was published in October 1962, made certain proposals for routing traffic in the area which were accepted, in April 1964, by the Maritime Safety Committee of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization.

As long as man has ventured to go to sea, sailing directions have existed. Man's survival depended upon knowing the best fishing and hunting places and how to find these were secrets, told only to family or friends.

Later, sailing directions covered areas in the world where trade or new settlements had begun and, as early as 500 years B.C., some of these sailing directions were written down. They covered the Mediterranean Sea and part of western Europe and they were called PERIPLUS meaning ‘sailing around’. They contained almost the same information as sailing directions today, namely: harbours, anchorages, currents, possibilities for fresh water, provisions and other supplies.