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Originally Posted by coldwar
Incredible! So if it's this complicated to keep a big plane on course and oriented correctly, could somebody explain it to me again how a bunch of terrorists with no real flight experience, and with navigation transponders switched off, managed to hit three targets so accurately on 9-11? The Pentagon one is especially mind-boggling as it needed such a long run-in at nearly ground level. Who was doing such a good job at compensating for wind direction on that one?  |
First, they did have real flight experience. Second, transponders are not used to navigate. Transponders allow an aircraft to show up on radar electronically; they are for the benefit of air traffic controllers, not the aircrew. Third, wind compensation during landing is quite different from wind compensation during other phases of flight. During landing, it is important that the longitudinal axis of the aircraft be parallel to the direction of travel (unless the aircraft is equipped with crosswind landing gear.) This is not necessary (or desirable) during other phases of flight.