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The E6-B Flight Computer Is 75 Years Old, Still In Use (informationweek.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Few devices have been around this long, have had cameo appearances in Star Trek, and remain in use today. The current E6-B looks almost exactly the same as the first one manufactured 75 years ago. It was designed by U.S. Naval Lt. Philip Dalton in the late 1930s. When he completed the final version, it was introduced to the Army in 1940, and later used widely during WWII. Today is a required instrument for flight training, and has appeared on Star Trek original series several times, as Mr. Spock used a E6-B for critical calculations.
its a stupid slide rule with a stupid carnival wheel attachment.
A computer is a device that can compute. The E6-B qualifies.
Modern usage has co-opted the term to refer to an electronic device that computes. But computers pre-date the electronic age.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
You could be. Computer used to be a job title.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
enroute crab angle Does that make you a crab person?
For those who do not know, the action of flying turned into the wind is called "crabbing", after the skittering motion of a crab across the ground. If the wind is coming from your left, then to keep a defined track across the ground a pilot will keep the aircraft yawed to the left by some angle -- the "crab angle". Adding the vectors of wind and thrust results in the correct path from point A to point B on land.
You don't usually notice this as a passenger while aloft. You will see it when you watch an aircraft land in a crosswind. To line up with the runway (a fixed track on the ground) the pilot points the nose of the airplane into the wind to cancel the sideways drift from the wind. This is the easy way to cancel that drift. It can be held for long periods of time and allows a stabilized approach.
Just before landing, pilots will kick the airplane over into a "slip", which is a deliberate mis-coordination of the flight controls. This puts the plane in a bank (using the horizontal component of lift to cancel the wind) with rudder cancelling the yaw. This is a harder technique because it requires constant control inputs, but it aligns the wheels with the direction of travel. That's good for not blowing out tires.
Supermarket trolleys have castering wheels that align themselves to the path of least resistance. The landing gear of a B-52 are actually steered into position, and the plane holds the crab all the way down the runway.
Example video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
You got it wrong. Churchill commented on democracy not capitalism. “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”