Description

The Evolution of Air Navigation: From Ballooning to Satellite Guidance

From the first aerial navigators drifting with the wind in balloons to the sophisticated satellite and inertial systems that guide modern aircraft, Air Navigation tells the remarkable story of how aviators learned to find their way through the skies.

Combining technological history with the experiences of pioneering navigators, explorers, engineers and aircrew, the book traces the evolution of navigation from dead reckoning, celestial observations and magnetic compasses through the revolutionary developments of radio navigation, radar, hyperbolic systems, instrument landing aids and satellite navigation. Along the way, it examines the achievements of figures such as Alcock and Brown, Lindbergh, Kingsford-Smith, Amy Johnson, Francis Chichester and many others whose flights helped shape the science and practice of air navigation.

Drawing on a wide range of historical sources and tracing the rapid development of aviation during two world wars and the jet age, this book provides a comprehensive account of one of aviation’s most critical disciplines. It is an essential reference for aviation historians, navigators, pilots and anyone fascinated by the challenge of guiding aircraft across oceans, continents and polar regions.