Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T08:28:35.661Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Byrd's dead reckoning on his 1926 North Pole flight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2015

G. H. Newsom
G. H. Newsom*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Richard Byrd claimed to have reached the North Pole in his 1926 flight, based mostly on his dead reckoning navigation. His technique of finding distance traveled from observations with a drift indicator can ideally be quite accurate, as shown by simulations of his dead reckoning with a navigation log. But under real-world conditions, especially those of Byrd's flight, significant errors can easily occur. Since we do not have a copy of Byrd's navigation log from the flight, we cannot assess such errors, and there is some evidence that Byrd did not keep a navigation log. However, that would not necessarily lead to less accurate dead reckoning.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 51 , Issue 5 , September 2015 , pp. 560 - 565
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bart, S. 2013. Race to the top of the world. Washington: Regnery History.Google Scholar
Bennett, F. 1926. Our flight over the North Pole. Aero Digest 9: 262.Google Scholar
Byrd, R. E. 1926a. Byrd's report of his flight, dated 23 June 1926, to the Secretary of the Navy, forwarded to the National Geographic Society. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Byrd Polar Research Center Archival program (Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd folder 4239).Google Scholar
Byrd, R.E. 1926b. Untitled document. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Byrd Polar Research Center Archival program. (Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd folder 4271).Google Scholar
Byrd, R.E. 1928. Skyward. New York: Halcyon House.Google Scholar
Goerler, R.E. (editor). 1998. To the Pole: the diary and notebook of Richard E. Byrd, 1925–1927. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Newsom, G.H. 2013. Byrd's Arctic flight in the context of model atmospheres. Polar Record 49: 62–71.Google Scholar
NGS (National Geographic Society). 1926a. Report of special committee appointed by the Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society to examine the records of Commander Byrd's flight to the North Pole, 9 May 1926. Columbus OH: The Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program (Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd, folder 4239).Google Scholar
NGS (National Geographic Society).1926b. Copies of data filed with other societies. National Geographic Magazine 50: 388.Google Scholar
Pioneer Instrument Company. 1928. Instructions on using the Pioneer drift indicator. 1st edition. Brooklyn NY: Pioneer Instrument Company.Google Scholar
Sperry, E. A. 1917. Aerial navigation over water. In: Woodhouse, H. Textbook of naval aeronautics. New York: The Century Co.Google Scholar
Wright, M.D. 1972. Most probable position. A history of aerial navigation to 1941. Lawrence KA: The University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar