Am I the only person that is pretty hacked off that people use kmh to describe speed and not knots and meters for altitude rather than feet.It will cause rants, but Aviation Authorities around the world are already asking ground stations to be in the correct units.
I should have gone further into depth as to why the aviation industry uses nautical miles, knots ete, but I didn't, maybe because I saw it as painfully obvious, but in hindsight, haven't explained why it happens that way. Put simply, it all relates back to lats/longs involved with mapping the earths surface and how the metric system would not produce any whole numbers in relation to time and distance when tied back to the meridians. Hence why we use nm, kts, etc for units of measurement in navigation. If you use metric, you would forever be rounding up or down and dealing with fractions instead. Many of us who are aviators as said above, are adept at converting into the necessary units for where we fly, however it will inevitably end in disaster as proven by those who have died due to a mathematical conversion....
here is a good example of a confusion of mesuring units
On July 23, 1983, a brand new Air Canada Boeing 767 was forced to glide to a landing after running out of fuel in midair. The plane essentially became an enormous glider. Even descending at a paltry glide ratio of about 11:1, the pilots managed to land safely at an abandoned airport in Gimli, Canada. The story of why the plane ran out of fuel is a long one, but it was partly due to an error in confusing English units with metric units.
If you are interested in learning more about this incident, you can read more by searching the Web for "Gimli glider"
While I agree that the metric system makes things much neater and simpler for most things, the fact is that at the moment at least, the majority of the world uses a different standard for aviation, and if you want to fly UAVs in civilian airspace or in any way interact with ATC, then you will need to be able to communicate information in the format and standard that is in use: knots of airspeed, altitude in feet, and distance in nautical miles (which as Areth pointed out is tied to global navigation). Many of us who fly professionally (like myself) are fairly adept at rough conversions between the standards. If you want to have some fun, trying flying from the US to the UK, then across Western Europe into Russia, and then on to China! The last two countries named have their own standards with regard to flight levels, completely different than the rest of the world!
Well you might have a point Joseph, the world needs financial stimulus packages to happen so replacing altimeters and air speed indicators in just about every aircraft in the world will create jobs. Also retraining every air traffic controller and changing all charts. No it could really kick start economies. I guess you could not really have two systems so boats might be asked to change as well!
My flight computer is made of cardboard and is completely analogue ;-)
I know that the Russians used metric because they did'nt like the rest of us.
One day UAV's will operate in CAS, but not before they start using the correct units when talking to the real world. How it happens inside does not matter. What is displayed on screen and relayed to other agencies does.
@Not sure
Just stay below 120 meters, far away from airports and you will be ok!
When i have to think in real aeronautical measurements i remember all my 10 to 17 year old training in flight simulator (RIP) and how i was tortured in High School(Mexico) making conversion's to English system (and all thanks to USA not England). When i have to use metrical system i remember driving my car in Mexico and =).
The units of measurement in aviation are that for a reason, as it ties into a common understanding for any pilot, anywhere in the world. Plus is makes sense when doing navigation and how for eg WAC, VNC, TAC charts etc are used. If you dont' understand these basic terms and how they are used, then you aren't a trained pilot in aviation. It is crucial that as UAV controllers a step towards understanding how general aviation functions and operates in accordance to Controlled and Uncontrolled airspace, and why the potential for disaster is heightened when sense and avoid is not available to many small to medium UAV's. I would not like to be on the wrong end of the law when explaining why my UAV took a manned plane out of the sky without (a) the proper qualifications as a UAV controller (b) permission to fly in airspace at a given height (c) be un-insurred against damages to other people and property (d) be oblivious to the fact the being un-aware of these basic principles allows for the operations of UAVs and doesn't apply to the RC community.
I vote nautical miles, knots and aviation terminology.
"Being an 'old' guy, I can't wrap my brain around metric"
Metric is easy, it's just "base 10" rather then English "base 12". It's heck of a lot easier to quickly divide something by 10 then by 12 :) (just giving you hard time)
Comments
On July 23, 1983, a brand new Air Canada Boeing 767 was forced to glide to a landing after running out of fuel in midair. The plane essentially became an enormous glider. Even descending at a paltry glide ratio of about 11:1, the pilots managed to land safely at an abandoned airport in Gimli, Canada. The story of why the plane ran out of fuel is a long one, but it was partly due to an error in confusing English units with metric units.
If you are interested in learning more about this incident, you can read more by searching the Web for "Gimli glider"
lets use pole, chains and perches instead
My flight computer is made of cardboard and is completely analogue ;-)
I know that the Russians used metric because they did'nt like the rest of us.
One day UAV's will operate in CAS, but not before they start using the correct units when talking to the real world. How it happens inside does not matter. What is displayed on screen and relayed to other agencies does.
Just stay below 120 meters, far away from airports and you will be ok!
When i have to think in real aeronautical measurements i remember all my 10 to 17 year old training in flight simulator (RIP) and how i was tortured in High School(Mexico) making conversion's to English system (and all thanks to USA not England). When i have to use metrical system i remember driving my car in Mexico and =).
I vote nautical miles, knots and aviation terminology.
Metric is easy, it's just "base 10" rather then English "base 12". It's heck of a lot easier to quickly divide something by 10 then by 12 :) (just giving you hard time)
Sorry the comments are wrong!! I update that to meters but i never changed the comments. Duh! SOrry!
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