HP 15CE Aviation Pac

[Guenter Schink]

(08-21-2024 11:17 PM)Geoff Quickfall Wrote:  Hi Max,

When I started with the airline in 88 there was nothing but nomographs. A small 2K on board computer called a PMC (performance management computer) and of course the INS with a whopping RAM for 9 waypoints.

...

When I started as a copilot on the Boeing 707 with the German Air force (Luftwaffe) in April 1974 navigation was the job of a navigator still, using loran, astro navigation and other ancient stuff. Our routine flights were calculated by Lufthansa computers. Quite often, when en route with President, Chancellor or Ministers, we had to do ad hoc trip calculation as they simply changed destination. Ever seen a thick book with tables of integrated range? That was very time consuming and error prone.
What a joy, when half a year later in Oktober 1974 our 707s where upgraded with INS.

The navigation branch bought an HP97, but obviously nobody did it use effectively. So I put my hands on it and over some time did an in depth data analysis of the integrated range tables. Using a regression analysis I came to a very reliable formula to calculate the required fuel for a long haul trip.

This was of course not a certified procedure, but using the integrated range tables after you know the result already made life much easier. And this motivated me to buy an HP41c, which was quite expensive for a young captain (rank not role), to have my own private flight performance computer.

50 years ago -- hmm, sigh!

Günter