[FreedomPoster]

An older friend was one of the early 747 pilots. He used to smoke, and said he would open the sextant hole in the top of the back of the cockpit and have a cigarette, blowing the smoke out of the hole.

The point being, a plane as relatively modern as the 747 was set up for navigation by sextant.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Ah, yes, navigating via sextant. Amelia Earhart’s navigator would have been using a sextant. It is an almost forgotten ‘art form’. I learned some years ago to ‘reduce sights’ made using a sextant. And the sextant I learn to use was a Plath, German, and it had a swastika on it, from the early 1930’s German navy. When I was learning, the accuracy required was within a mile.

Today we have navigational accuracy within a few feet via GPS. Most all of us have at least one GPS today, and we have begun to take them fore granted. The accuracy is phenomenal. I use mine as a check on my speed, because it is infinitely more accurate than the speedometer in my car. It is also infinitely more accurate than the odometer.

Each has his own choice as to GPS. My choice is Garman...they supply the military.

[BatGuano]

I don't know about that...the B747 might have had a sextant port in the ceiling of the cockpit but the thing that held the port open was the sextant itself. He would have to propped the hole open with a small stick. Also, the normal rate of air exchange in the cockpit would limit the amount of smoke in the air. Makes a good story but who knows???
Celestial navigation is a fascinating subject. The difficulty with airborne CN is that the motion of the observer must be compensated for. Easy on a ship, harder when moving at 480 kts.
Read the book, “Longitude.” The Harrison Clock, on display at the British Maritime Museum in Greenwich, UK, saved countless lives of British Sailors because CN depends on knowing the correct time.