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Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 19:01:09 -0600
From: Snowbird <snbird@ibm.net>
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Subject: Re: Estimating distance
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Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

> Snowbird wrote in message <364BC445.1D9A@ibm.net>...
> >If you can see the airport, use the runway.  You know the length,
> >guesstimate how many of the things would fit between you and it.
> >A 4000 ft runway is 3/4 of a mile.

> The nautical mile is used for all but visibility.  A 4000 ft 
> runway is 3/4 of a statute mile, it is 2/3 of a nautical mile.

Correct, and good point, but that's also moving beyond what we 
lab geeks call "the precision of the method".  

5 runway lengths between you and the airport is about 3.3 nautical, 
3.7 statute miles.  We can tell we're about 3 miles away, rather
than 10.  The point is to have some rule-of-thumb for the new pilot
to approximate distance, not tenth or a mile or even half-mile
precision.

Snowbird


