Compass

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File:1912.7.20 - Clift Compass in Flight.png
Aviator's compass, created by Eric H. Clift, promoted in Flight magazine, 1912.

Instrument with a magnetic needle pointing north. There was innovation in the early aero period in studying the problem of how to get good directional accuracy when in the air. Some patents and publications about compasses relate to issues of aerial compasses, and some don't, so "related to aircraft" will sometimes be yes and sometimes no in this population. Much of the literature we find in this area is in French so at least temporarily we include the French translation "boussoule" below in publication searches.

Difficulty in using a compass over water:

When out of sight of land, the compass is useless, for want of fixed points for comparison. Captain Beaufoy says, "I in vain endeavored to find out from the compass, the direction the balloon was taking, though the needle pointed north, it could not tell, whether we floated to, or fram that point." —Annals of Phil., vol. 24.[1]

References

This wiki has 31 patents categorized in "Compass" or "aerial compass" or "boussoule". Other techtypes related to Compass or aerial compass or boussoule: Gyro-compass

Patents in categories Compass or aerial compass or boussoule

Publications referring to Compass or aerial compass or boussoule


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