Knots is not the only maritime expression that has made it into the skies. An aircraft fuselage is also known as a hull. The Ship's Library is the folder that contains, among other things, all the paperwork that documents the aircraft is airworthy and legal to fly. Port and Starbord, as well as fore and aft, inboard and outboard, rudder, tiller, bulkhead, cockpit, galley, cabin, captain, first officer, purser, and crew are some from the top of my head. The navigation lights follow the same pattern on aircraft as on ships, with red to port, green to starboard, and white to the rear.
Another one would be in large commercial aircraft, also have keel beams to make up for the possible loss of structural integrity taken up by the wheel well.
As a low time pilot i think using 3 different measurement is “luxury” and leaves a lot of space for error. The Russians on the other hand use metric system. They count fuel in liters or kilos, altitude and visibility in meters, speed in km/hour and distance in kilometers and torque in Nm (Newton meters). You have to be very hypoxic to make an error in the calculations.. We should also be also using metric system in aviation a long time already...
@@jan-lukas No The Imperial System Units such as a 'foot' demonstrate that the system was based on an intuitive sense of how long objects are in relation to the human body. The 'cubit' was used in Ancient Egypt and refers to the distance from a man's elbow to the end of his middle finger. Imperial is not based off of metric....
@@ZackWolfMusic sure it works fine because they are using it. So the airplanes are flying at an altitude of 38000 ft for example. If they would use the metric system, they also would choose an even number and it would work equally fine. To use all in metric would be more consistent because the whole world minus Murica use just the metric system normally.
@@sil8127 you are right, but you also could use lateral distance in meter and altitude in kilometers. Would have the same effect of avoiding ambiguity but you could use the metric system constantly.
Very good, back in time in Russia and countries affiliated, they used meters for altitude and km/hr for speed, we are using feet and NM as you just explained. In Mexico they are using meter/second to indicate the strength of the wind on some airports just like in Russia, rest of the world uses knot, one knot is one nautical mile per hour. And since I haven’t flown all over the world yet I am pretty sure there are some more particularities around.
It's quite funny that they didn't want to change the unit because of confusion. Today we have nautical miles for flight distance, meters for some shorter distances and foot for the flight altitude. It's an incredible mixture which is the incarnation of confusion in theory. 😂
Most flight computers will already work it out in metric... (because SI units are what most engineers, even many in the USA use) before applying a conversion and reporting/displaying the result in imperial. Pilots are also in general, smart cookies, they could handle the transition just fine, it's everyone else (mostly old Americans who don't like change... but who happen to be in control of the aviation authorities in the US) who are worried about it.
@@sergarlantyrell7847 yes, like I and others tried to point out in another comment is that the system and the units behind all are metric or can be converted to metric easyliy because of the definition of the SI-units. It's quite funny that they don't make that change just because of peronal concerns. I agree completely that pilots could work fine only in the metric system.
They should announce a date two or three years in the future when the junk units will be stopped cold in favor of SI. Digital instruments could be retrofitted to switch over automatically. Stickers could be applied to old analog gauges.
I’ve no comment on the measurement units because they’re practical and as universally accepted as necessary in the industry. I like the links to video and photo sources in the description. Those make a very good and informative video great!
I wonder what's changed first, the european summer/winter time or the incredible amount of units used in aviation. They could use corona for that. No aircraft in the sky for 20 minutes while everything is changed, just like when Sweden changed from left hand to right hand driving and everyone had to stop for 20 minutes because of this. It worked...
@@Milesco As a helicopter pilot, I can tell you nautical miles are much more useful. I don't really care about feet or meter for altitude but pounds for is easier for weight and fuel quantity, until my passengers know their weight in Kg that is.
Knot was a real advantage until GPS. For those of you who have not set a course by hand or have not used celestial navigation, knowing that you ave moving one minute of arc per hour on any great circle route you plot can be very useful.
3 nautical miles is equivalent to 3.45 miles or 5.55 kilometers. So for example most adults or the average speed to walk is 3 knots, 3.45 miles per hour or 5.55 kilometers per hour.
Short answer is because it’s a useful unit for celestial navigation. Ships relied on this for centuries before GPS. After discontinuing teaching it the US Navy is bringing back celestial navigation. It can’t be jammed or hacked. One nautical mile approximately equals 1 minute along a meridian. So 89° N or S is 60 NM from the pole. Aviation initially relied on celestial navigation to cross oceans before LORAN, Inertial Navigation and GPS made it obsolete. But it was natural for the unit to carry over from ships at sea to ships of the air using the same navigation skills.
For daily operation, Nm/Ft system works fine with pilots/ controllers. But when doing calculation like climb gradient, M/M makes it much easier. well, nowadays it' s all done by computer then....
Except that the calculations a pilot has to do are a lot easier to do using knots and NM's... but you know, it's not about what works best for pilots I guess... you remember the pilots right? They're the dudes trying not to crash all those aircraft 'n stuff.
@@afcgeo882 Except for the American public, most of the UK and few postage stamps mostly being outposts or leftovers of the British Empire or American 'possessions', the world IS metric.
@@FirstLastOne And that literally means it isn’t “the whole world”, doesn’t it? About 420 million people don’t count suddenly? That’s over three times the population of Western Europe (129 million).
@@afcgeo882 ??? France, Spain and Portugal alone have a population of more than 120 million. Population depends on the definition of Western Europe, e.g., the countries belonging to the former Western European Union have a population of 376 million (412 with observer countries) vs. 336 of the U.S.. The countries that have adopted the metric system have a combined population of more than 7 billion
I wish the USA had changed to the metric system before I went to school (1948). I had a problem understanding fractions as we moved several times during my formative years. Lets get with the majority of the world!
I suggest switching to furlongs for distance, rods for height, "yards per half-an-hour" for speed, tod for weight, "grain per perch" for pressure and Bushell for volume.
Actually the flight height is measured in imperial feet also. (Safe distance is normally 1,000 feet) Being an safety issue, I have no problem with accepting imperial measurements. Personally I just don't get why America (Liberia and Myanmar) hold on to imperial. Metric is so much easier to measure and, especially, calculate.
Having been a licensed aviator since 1998 I have found the present system to be quite user friendly,there for no need to change it for no chanhesake reason.
When I first got into aviation it was very odd to me to use feet for height and nautical miles for distance. Now I wouldn't change it for anything, even though I'm not American.
Knots, NM, feet. For aviation weather at airports Celcius, meters, feet, hpa. Said in another way, the european aviation units should become the worldwide standard.
There are good reasons for using different units for different purposes. It dramatically reduces chance of confusion. Also, there are some very quick maths trick that will in nm and feet.
The metre is a measure of the earths radius, from the Equator the Pole is 100 gradian or gon , each is 100 kilometers long, hence the Equator to the Pole is 10 000 000 metres.
Nautical miles aren’t a measure of distance, it’s a measure of arc on a circle. So I always wondered, well doesn’t that make the distance change depending on altitude? Well of course it does!, But then, after doing the actual math, the error or more accurately difference traveled at 40 or 50,000 feet, As compared to C level is negligible. I kind of forgot that the radius of the earth is 4000 miles, so what’s another eight or 10 miles between friends?
Natical mile are a measurement of arc using latitude and longitude on a circle, because earth is a flat circle, not a sphere! Distance doesn't change when a plane raising it's altitude.
The only reason they didn't switch to metric was cause of the US, Canada, and UK. (Canada and UK use both). Liberia and Burma techically use imperial but realistically they use metric. The government just hasn't officialy changes status in Liberia and Burma.
@@Kaizoku_Zoro No they don't use metric because metric offers pretty much no advantages over the international standard (and is arguably worse in some areas) outside of being easier to understand for some non-aviators. As well as a transition to metric could easily take many decades and a ludicrous amount of money.
had a flat earth clown claim the units were BS - even though a 2000 mile journey in SM would reflect about 200 NM error in calculation and in distance.
@@ZackWolfMusic good luck with that - when the evidence thats so blatantly obvious, as just mentioned- is ignored - mental health issues cannot be excluded
Despite what several people are saying, this system is badly broken and it is only in use to keep a tiny group happy. As I am "only" 61 (British), I do not have a "feel" for the imperial system or its nautical variant. If I want a estimate in units of measure that would be OK for my great grandparents, I have to to mental arithmetic after I have estimated mow many metres, KG or whatever something is.
I want the ICAO to fix a date so bad so we can get reed of the old the system and all use the metric system everywhere. Like the chinese and russians use on their aircrafts.
@@afcgeo882 uh? No because the metric System is used by all the countries in the world except 3. Those three are Liberia, an African Country. Burma, an poor authoritarian Asian Country. And for some reason one of the biggest economy in the world the US. Communism has nothing to do with having an universal measurement system.
@@Mat2000IPAD Russia and China, the two countries mentioned do. If you don’t know why (simple history) the US uses imperial measurements then you really need not comment. Just go back to school.
I would not mind using Imperial if it were based on powers of ten like mili-feet, centi-feet, feet, kilofeet, etc (as we use in metric). I cant get my mind to accept 1/128th of an inch as a unit of measurement.
Nobody uses 128ths of an inch as a unit of measurement. Typically, fractions of an inch only go down to 16ths, although 32nds are occasionally used, and 64ths very rarely. (I think I've seen that for some drill bits.) Anything that requires a high level of precision (e.g., machining) uses thousandths of an inch.
The ability to divide units by fractions can be quite handy, however. The fact that you can divide a foot into 12 parts is quite convenient. That means you can divide a foot in halves, thirds, quarters, and sixths. Likewise with miles. Having 5280 feet in a mile may seem strange, but it allows you to divide a mile in halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, twelfths, 16ths, and more. That's very convenient. Not saying I oppose the metric system; only that the Imperial / U.S. Customary system has its own advantages too, and it's not as bad as many people think it is.
@@Milesco I guess my brain is wired differently. I can very quickly operate in tenths (the common divisions mimic percentages, 1/5 of a km is 200m), plus metric conversions are very obvious, like 14.75 km are 14750 meters or 536 mm are 53.6 cm and so on. I have to do a good pause to convert 13/16 of an inch to, say, decimal inches.
@@gastonpossel Well, of course, a lot of it is what you’re used to. You’re used to the metric system, and that’s fine. We Americans are used to the U.S. Customary system, so it’s no problem for us. (And a third of a meter is 33.33333333... cm, so that’s one point for the American system! :-D ) I find that in practice, we never really have to do things like convert miles to feet (or vice versa). If a distance is large, we use miles. If it’s small, we use feet. We don’t convert back and forth. We NEVER have to convert 13/16 of an inch to decimal. If we need a 13/16” wrench, we just grab the one that's marked 13/16. That’s it.
@@Milesco As an engineer, I would usually put small things in larger contexts (i.e. in drawings), so operating in just one unit with an appropiate multiplier (mili, kilo, etc.) it's very useful. In Chile we have a mess, while almost everything is metric, lumber related things and pipe fittings are imperial, so you have to buy 1000x2500mm steel sheets, but 1220x2440mm plywood boards and 2x5 inch timber beams XD
Ok, so I see a lot of arguments over this or that form of measurement. Units used in aviation were chosen not by lottery or default but instead by what works best. If I am on short final I want to know that I am 28 feet AGL, not between 9 and 10 meters. Vertical separation is 500 feet between 3000 and 18000 feet msl. Easy to calculate and remember. That won’t work if we just change to 150 meters. Metric might work in class A airspace (maybe) but in congested airspace below 10000 feet, I would argue that changing anything would be dangerous due to confusion and added calculations, especially during transition. It works, don’t fix it. More important is an error in explanation within the video regarding True Air Speed (TAS), which is explained in the vid as “the plane’s speed in relationship to undisturbed air”. This is flatly incorrect and while the pitot system can indicate variance in turbulence (caused by disturbed air), this is infrequent and transient. Because Indicated Airspeed is based on the pressure in the pitot tube in relation to static pressure (vid basically got this right), it is nearly always incorrect. TAS is the IAS corrected for altitude, temperature and pressure. The difference is often significant and absolutely matters in higher performance aircraft where relying on IAS might cause the pilot to inadvertently exceed the plane’s never exceed speed (Vne).
Just to let you know that your subtitles spell the metre incorrectly. The SI units define the Metre as a unit of length. A meter is an instrument used for measurement. The Americans get this wrong all the time but as you are not American I thought I should mention it.
The system in place works. I have several engineering degrees and get quite irritated by those who demand measuring systems be changed just because it sounds good to them. I convert units alk day long. It isn't a problem. If you want to see people start dying - lots of them - then start a pointless exercise of changing systems because you think it sounds goid. Then YOU be FIRST to sign up when the change takes place.
Most of us use Imperial or Metric? NO! Most of us use Metric, and that's it... And I mean 95 percent of the World's population for crying out loud. I live in the States, and have been using metric as much as possible.
@@ZackWolfMusic I am an immigrant, and live in CA where you have tons of immigrants, it is sometimes easier. That said, I work as a driving instructor so I have to use miles... I am at peace with that
Thanks for the explanation. One the one hand, it would make sense to change to units that the vast majority of the world uses. On the other hand, it would be an MASSIVE task to change all of the software on planes and ATC equipment and things I can't imagine at once. Not to mention retraining pilots, controller, etc. In 99+% of cases it does not affect safety. (except when fuel is delivered in one unit and the pilots/ground staff cannot convert it correctly)
@@todortodorov940 I cannot disagree with you. So then, we can working on the marine industry next. Knots, beaufort, etc. As an old American living the Europe for years, I am still working on getting my head around metric measurement. And I don't live in the UK, where they buy petrol/gasoline by the liter and measure consumption by MPG. AND, their gallons are different than US gallons.
@@burkiwa Metric is not that bad. The US already uses some metric units like seconds, amper, mole, candela and derived units like volt, watt, lumen, kilowatthour etc.
There are a surprising number of planes and pilots using mph, so it's hard for me to agree that "Aviation" uses knots, when it is clear that NOT ALL of aviation uses it.
About 80% of the world uses the metric system, Airbus builds in metric, so most people know the metric measures, even the US Armed forces use metric! "Make it simple" less chance for screwups!
It's time to go metric, the only old measurement which has any kind of reasonable argument in its favour is altitude in feet, and even then, there are very few if any airspaces which actually use 43 flight levels, it could easily be divisions of 500m
At some point ATC communication will be entirely computerized, then it will be much easier to switch if so desired. Doing so before that will not and should not happen.
... and altitude is still measured in feet. So is that imperial feet or is there a nautical foot that is just over 13 inches in length? Crazy to use nautical miles but call them miles, as if a committee could not decide to use imperial or metric units so baled out of making a decision by using something totally different
Nautical miles are used because they have a useful definition for navigation as they have a direct relationship to minutes of latitude. It wasn’t an arbitrary choice.
Knots is not the only maritime expression that has made it into the skies. An aircraft fuselage is also known as a hull. The Ship's Library is the folder that contains, among other things, all the paperwork that documents the aircraft is airworthy and legal to fly. Port and Starbord, as well as fore and aft, inboard and outboard, rudder, tiller, bulkhead, cockpit, galley, cabin, captain, first officer, purser, and crew are some from the top of my head. The navigation lights follow the same pattern on aircraft as on ships, with red to port, green to starboard, and white to the rear.
All of aviation was built on nautical history, language and traditions.
And an airlines also refers to the aircraft the own and operate as the fleet....
@@cf6282 As well as referring to individual aircraft as ships.
Another one would be in large commercial aircraft, also have keel beams to make up for the possible loss of structural integrity taken up by the wheel well.
Some of the first commercial aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s were essentially flying boats
As a low time pilot i think using 3 different measurement is “luxury” and leaves a lot of space for error.
The Russians on the other hand use metric system. They count fuel in liters or kilos, altitude and visibility in meters, speed in km/hour and distance in kilometers and torque in Nm (Newton meters).
You have to be very hypoxic to make an error in the calculations..
We should also be also using metric system in aviation a long time already...
Go metric. It might be chaos for a while, but will be much better in the long run.
Imperial is more accurate than Metric!
@@ZackWolfMusic imperial is defined using metric, so it can't be more accurate
@@ZackWolfMusic American educated
Wouldn't be worth it to change it. what is the gain?
@@jan-lukas No The Imperial System
Units such as a 'foot' demonstrate that the system was based on an intuitive sense of how long objects are in relation to the human body. The 'cubit' was used in Ancient Egypt and refers to the distance from a man's elbow to the end of his middle finger. Imperial is not based off of metric....
And what about feet for altitude?
Aviation is a strange mix of measuring systems, I think it's about time it switches to something more consistent
What about it? Ft works just fine.
@@ZackWolfMusic sure it works fine because they are using it. So the airplanes are flying at an altitude of 38000 ft for example. If they would use the metric system, they also would choose an even number and it would work equally fine. To use all in metric would be more consistent because the whole world minus Murica use just the metric system normally.
It makes sense. Ft always refer to an altitude, meters always laterally. No ambiguity and can’t get them mixed up
@@sil8127 you are right, but you also could use lateral distance in meter and altitude in kilometers. Would have the same effect of avoiding ambiguity but you could use the metric system constantly.
@@Despotarr exactly my thoughts!
I'm glad we were able to clear that up...
Furlongs per fortnight.
Meters and seconds. But good luck changing that safely.
Start measuring aircraft separation by car lengths, so us Americans can know whether they're keeping safe following distances
😄😄😄
That is a new fact thank you for giving me a briefing about this topic
Very good, back in time in Russia and countries affiliated, they used meters for altitude and km/hr for speed, we are using feet and NM as you just explained. In Mexico they are using meter/second to indicate the strength of the wind on some airports just like in Russia, rest of the world uses knot, one knot is one nautical mile per hour. And since I haven’t flown all over the world yet I am pretty sure there are some more particularities around.
In México we use knots
Some also "unfortunately" (in my opinion) use mph. Crazy world.
1nm = 1.852km
1mile = 1.609km
1lb = 0.454kg
1 kg jet fuel = 1.27L
1 US Gal = 3.785L
1 lb thrust = 4.45 Newtons
1 Mach aircraft speed = 1062km/hr
1 inch = 2.54cm
1 ft = 30.49cm
1 Cu Ft = 28.317L
1 cubic metre= 1000 litres
≈ 35.3 cubic feet
≈ 1.31 cubic yards
≈ 6.29 oil barrels
≈ 220 imperial gallons
≈ 264 US fluid gallons
You forgot to convert knots and mph.
Henlo, you may want to review the subtitle that you inserted.. thank you for the video
Thanks, This has been corrected. - TB
It's quite funny that they didn't want to change the unit because of confusion. Today we have nautical miles for flight distance, meters for some shorter distances and foot for the flight altitude. It's an incredible mixture which is the incarnation of confusion in theory. 😂
Most flight computers will already work it out in metric... (because SI units are what most engineers, even many in the USA use) before applying a conversion and reporting/displaying the result in imperial.
Pilots are also in general, smart cookies, they could handle the transition just fine, it's everyone else (mostly old Americans who don't like change... but who happen to be in control of the aviation authorities in the US) who are worried about it.
@@sergarlantyrell7847 yes, like I and others tried to point out in another comment is that the system and the units behind all are metric or can be converted to metric easyliy because of the definition of the SI-units. It's quite funny that they don't make that change just because of peronal concerns. I agree completely that pilots could work fine only in the metric system.
They should announce a date two or three years in the future when the junk units will be stopped cold in favor of SI. Digital instruments could be retrofitted to switch over automatically. Stickers could be applied to old analog gauges.
I’ve no comment on the measurement units because they’re practical and as universally accepted as necessary in the industry. I like the links to video and photo sources in the description. Those make a very good and informative video great!
they aren't universally accepted as necessary at all.
I think kilometer is fine
It is used in some countries.
Miles better
@@ZackWolfMusic Metric is better.
Lots of wind and air speed calculations are easier to do using knots and NM's... but I'm only a pilot so what do I know.
Pretty cool how far travel has came since distances started being measured! I didn't know this so thank you very much!
Metric everything would be perfect, because the metric system itself is a closed system in which you can change units very easily.
Wrong.. Imperial is!
@@ZackWolfMusic Yeah sure, just Google "imperial unit chart" :D
@@DomCe ? ?zz
@@ZackWolfMusic No
@@ZackWolfMusic No way is Imperial easier to use then Metric.
Look forward to pilots using furlongs, rods, bushels and perches.
A couple of elbows and knees as well, let's not forget the British stone.
What about leagues?
Planck lengths. 1E38 is approximately 1 mile.
I wonder what's changed first, the european summer/winter time or the incredible amount of units used in aviation.
They could use corona for that. No aircraft in the sky for 20 minutes while everything is changed, just like when Sweden changed from left hand to right hand driving and everyone had to stop for 20 minutes because of this. It worked...
You’d have to switch a lot of gauges.
@@afcgeo882 - Exactly. How would you change all that equipment?
The jetblue thumbnail catch my eyes 👀👀
Metric system for distance, altitude, weight and volume, please!
Yeah, I'm not a pilot or aviation professional, but it would seem logical to me to use one system for all purposes.
@@Milesco As a helicopter pilot, I can tell you nautical miles are much more useful. I don't really care about feet or meter for altitude but pounds for is easier for weight and fuel quantity, until my passengers know their weight in Kg that is.
@@matthieuthivierge7595 : That's interesting. Why do you find nautical miles more useful?
Definitely S.I. Units across the board.
Metrical units should be used, like this is the case in almost all other areas.
There are good reasons for using some imperial units in aviation.
@@peteconrad2077 I cannot see such reasons. Metric units have always been used in German gliding and we have very good experiences with them.
@@swenschlobach8071 if you use the same units for multiple different measurements there is a higher risk of confusion. You see this in the US.
Knot was a real advantage until GPS. For those of you who have not set a course by hand or have not used celestial navigation, knowing that you ave moving one minute of arc per hour on any great circle route you plot can be very useful.
All I can say is : what a mess !!! Great video as always
3 nautical miles is equivalent to 3.45 miles or 5.55 kilometers. So for example most adults or the average speed to walk is 3 knots, 3.45 miles per hour or 5.55 kilometers per hour.
Km or meters
Short answer is because it’s a useful unit for celestial navigation. Ships relied on this for centuries before GPS. After discontinuing teaching it the US Navy is bringing back celestial navigation. It can’t be jammed or hacked. One nautical mile approximately equals 1 minute along a meridian. So 89° N or S is 60 NM from the pole. Aviation initially relied on celestial navigation to cross oceans before LORAN, Inertial Navigation and GPS made it obsolete. But it was natural for the unit to carry over from ships at sea to ships of the air using the same navigation skills.
For daily operation, Nm/Ft system works fine with pilots/ controllers.
But when doing calculation like climb gradient, M/M makes it much easier.
well, nowadays it' s all done by computer then....
The metrical system should be used in aviation because it is the "normal" system for the whole world
Except it literally is not.
Except that the calculations a pilot has to do are a lot easier to do using knots and NM's... but you know, it's not about what works best for pilots I guess... you remember the pilots right? They're the dudes trying not to crash all those aircraft 'n stuff.
@@afcgeo882 Except for the American public, most of the UK and few postage stamps mostly being outposts or leftovers of the British Empire or American 'possessions', the world IS metric.
@@FirstLastOne And that literally means it isn’t “the whole world”, doesn’t it? About 420 million people don’t count suddenly? That’s over three times the population of Western Europe (129 million).
@@afcgeo882 ??? France, Spain and Portugal alone have a population of more than 120 million. Population depends on the definition of Western Europe, e.g., the countries belonging to the former Western European Union have a population of 376 million (412 with observer countries) vs. 336 of the U.S.. The countries that have adopted the metric system have a combined population of more than 7 billion
I wish the USA had changed to the metric system before I went to school (1948). I had a problem understanding fractions as we moved several times during my formative years. Lets get with the majority of the world!
I would be happy if certain people stop giving weights in school buses, volumes in pools, and heights in floors.
And, prices in number of iPhones
Size of cities to that of New York or london when few have been to those places
Nobody actually does that except people who are joking.
@@GH-oi2jf you mean American new moderators on TV are a joke? Okay - that point of view actually makes sense.
I suggest switching to furlongs for distance, rods for height, "yards per half-an-hour" for speed, tod for weight, "grain per perch" for pressure and Bushell for volume.
metric, no question. the only thing that might have at least some merit is to keep feet for the height, to have separate units for distance/height...
Actually the flight height is measured in imperial feet also. (Safe distance is normally 1,000 feet)
Being an safety issue, I have no problem with accepting imperial measurements.
Personally I just don't get why America (Liberia and Myanmar) hold on to imperial.
Metric is so much easier to measure and, especially, calculate.
One because we're used to it. Two we almost never need to calculate anything and if we do we already use metric.
In flatard terms, units of distance are now in _"SKOI MOILES"_ , believe it or not. 🤦♀️
Having been a licensed aviator since 1998 I have found the present system to be quite user friendly,there for no need to change it for no chanhesake reason.
Good explanation!
I believe the british stone is the best for air navigation
Metric system please. 😎
What I was waiting for....
When I first got into aviation it was very odd to me to use feet for height and nautical miles for distance. Now I wouldn't change it for anything, even though I'm not American.
That's the actual answer to the question posed in the video: the entire world would have to change units and everything is already marked in them.
@@matthewchristovich I believe Russia wouldn't have to change a thing.
Why would you stick to those units? How do they work better than the metric system?
@@iamkaus Metric system is wrong.
it’s always widely adaptive in the aviation industry. Ppl who understand metric units knows it too
thankyou for doing this!! i really didnt know this
Thank you
.
Knots, NM, feet. For aviation weather at airports Celcius, meters, feet, hpa. Said in another way, the european aviation units should become the worldwide standard.
There are good reasons for using different units for different purposes. It dramatically reduces chance of confusion. Also, there are some very quick maths trick that will in nm and feet.
How about refrigerator or washing machine as an unit of measurement. I saw on us news to use those as measurement on a video.
The metre is a measure of the earths radius, from the Equator the Pole is 100 gradian or gon , each is 100 kilometers long, hence the Equator to the Pole is 10 000 000 metres.
Metric system undoubtly!
Nautical miles aren’t a measure of distance, it’s a measure of arc on a circle. So I always wondered, well doesn’t that make the distance change depending on altitude? Well of course it does!, But then, after doing the actual math, the error or more accurately difference traveled at 40 or 50,000 feet, As compared to C level is negligible. I kind of forgot that the radius of the earth is 4000 miles, so what’s another eight or 10 miles between friends?
Natical mile are a measurement of arc using latitude and longitude on a circle, because earth is a flat circle, not a sphere! Distance doesn't change when a plane raising it's altitude.
Metric.
The only reason they didn't switch to metric was cause of the US, Canada, and UK. (Canada and UK use both). Liberia and Burma techically use imperial but realistically they use metric. The government just hasn't officialy changes status in Liberia and Burma.
@@Kaizoku_Zoro No they don't use metric because metric offers pretty much no advantages over the international standard (and is arguably worse in some areas) outside of being easier to understand for some non-aviators. As well as a transition to metric could easily take many decades and a ludicrous amount of money.
Very informative...thanks
video: about nautical miles use
CC: The airbus A320 NEO
Me: Understandable
Thanks, this has been corrected. - TB
@@SimpleFlyingNews your welcome and keep up the great videos👍🏽
had a flat earth clown claim the units were BS - even though a 2000 mile journey in SM would reflect about 200 NM error in calculation and in distance.
EARTH IS FLAT! Perhaps you misunderstood the guy or he did not explain well!
@@ZackWolfMusic good luck with that - when the evidence thats so blatantly obvious, as just mentioned- is ignored - mental health issues cannot be excluded
eh , I think that the vid hase an fault . Because the subtiteling is not matching of what you are saying .
what is a minute??? I'm so very confused! Time? Length? Every vehicle runs in the same speed??
Now I have something to think about of other then me being a failure while I want to sleep.
You have that problem too, huh? 🥴
Despite what several people are saying, this system is badly broken and it is only in use to keep a tiny group happy.
As I am "only" 61 (British), I do not have a "feel" for the imperial system or its nautical variant. If I want a estimate in units of measure that would be OK for my great grandparents, I have to to mental arithmetic after I have estimated mow many metres, KG or whatever something is.
with so confused system of units in flying im surprised there are not more accidents
I want the ICAO to fix a date so bad so we can get reed of the old the system and all use the metric system everywhere. Like the chinese and russians use on their aircrafts.
No, it should stay.
@@ethansaviation2672 nah it should go
Because communism is correct? 😂
@@afcgeo882 uh? No because the metric System is used by all the countries in the world except 3. Those three are Liberia, an African Country. Burma, an poor authoritarian Asian Country. And for some reason one of the biggest economy in the world the US. Communism has nothing to do with having an universal measurement system.
@@Mat2000IPAD Russia and China, the two countries mentioned do. If you don’t know why (simple history) the US uses imperial measurements then you really need not comment. Just go back to school.
Metric system should become the standard.
Imperial
@@ZackWolfMusic Metric
@@mypdf no
Fractions of a parsec.
Wrong subtitle/caption
Thanks, this has been corrected. - TB
I would not mind using Imperial if it were based on powers of ten like mili-feet, centi-feet, feet, kilofeet, etc (as we use in metric). I cant get my mind to accept 1/128th of an inch as a unit of measurement.
Nobody uses 128ths of an inch as a unit of measurement. Typically, fractions of an inch only go down to 16ths, although 32nds are occasionally used, and 64ths very rarely. (I think I've seen that for some drill bits.)
Anything that requires a high level of precision (e.g., machining) uses thousandths of an inch.
The ability to divide units by fractions can be quite handy, however. The fact that you can divide a foot into 12 parts is quite convenient. That means you can divide a foot in halves, thirds, quarters, and sixths.
Likewise with miles. Having 5280 feet in a mile may seem strange, but it allows you to divide a mile in halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, twelfths, 16ths, and more. That's very convenient.
Not saying I oppose the metric system; only that the Imperial / U.S. Customary system has its own advantages too, and it's not as bad as many people think it is.
@@Milesco I guess my brain is wired differently. I can very quickly operate in tenths (the common divisions mimic percentages, 1/5 of a km is 200m), plus metric conversions are very obvious, like 14.75 km are 14750 meters or 536 mm are 53.6 cm and so on. I have to do a good pause to convert 13/16 of an inch to, say, decimal inches.
@@gastonpossel Well, of course, a lot of it is what you’re used to. You’re used to the metric system, and that’s fine. We Americans are used to the U.S. Customary system, so it’s no problem for us. (And a third of a meter is 33.33333333... cm, so that’s one point for the American system! :-D )
I find that in practice, we never really have to do things like convert miles to feet (or vice versa). If a distance is large, we use miles. If it’s small, we use feet. We don’t convert back and forth.
We NEVER have to convert 13/16 of an inch to decimal. If we need a 13/16” wrench, we just grab the one that's marked 13/16. That’s it.
@@Milesco As an engineer, I would usually put small things in larger contexts (i.e. in drawings), so operating in just one unit with an appropiate multiplier (mili, kilo, etc.) it's very useful. In Chile we have a mess, while almost everything is metric, lumber related things and pipe fittings are imperial, so you have to buy 1000x2500mm steel sheets, but 1220x2440mm plywood boards and 2x5 inch timber beams XD
Just leave it as it is. It works
I’ve been wondering this
I’m accustomed to present system, so I don’t want SI units in navigation.
You have the wrong subtitles on this film
Thanks, this has been corrected. - TB
Might as well move up to kilometers. Future navigation in space is all going to be in km and AU. Standardize.
Furthermore, as of recent regulations, passengers shall be weighed on a logarithmic scale of the Standard American Big Mac.
everything should just be metric!
Please make a video on rise and fall of Deccan air btw i love your video love from India 🇮🇳
Ok, so I see a lot of arguments over this or that form of measurement. Units used in aviation were chosen not by lottery or default but instead by what works best. If I am on short final I want to know that I am 28 feet AGL, not between 9 and 10 meters. Vertical separation is 500 feet between 3000 and 18000 feet msl. Easy to calculate and remember. That won’t work if we just change to 150 meters. Metric might work in class A airspace (maybe) but in congested airspace below 10000 feet, I would argue that changing anything would be dangerous due to confusion and added calculations, especially during transition. It works, don’t fix it.
More important is an error in explanation within the video regarding True Air Speed (TAS), which is explained in the vid as “the plane’s speed in relationship to undisturbed air”. This is flatly incorrect and while the pitot system can indicate variance in turbulence (caused by disturbed air), this is infrequent and transient.
Because Indicated Airspeed is based on the pressure in the pitot tube in relation to static pressure (vid basically got this right), it is nearly always incorrect. TAS is the IAS corrected for altitude, temperature and pressure. The difference is often significant and absolutely matters in higher performance aircraft where relying on IAS might cause the pilot to inadvertently exceed the plane’s never exceed speed (Vne).
Furlongs per fortnight is my favorite. I have adapted my car's speedometer to reflect this.
Can anyone tell me how much is for example 150 knots in km per hour please
this what you need to remeber for all of my fellow metric friends
1NM=1.852KM
KNOT=NMPH
FEET=0.3048METER
Are the knots linked to the twisted mind of the flatearthers ?
Just to let you know that your subtitles spell the metre incorrectly. The SI units define the Metre as a unit of length. A meter is an instrument used for measurement. The Americans get this wrong all the time but as you are not American I thought I should mention it.
Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais, on its English language pages, uses the spelling “meter.”
Hello, It's spelled correctly as we write in US English. - TB
The system in place works. I have several engineering degrees and get quite irritated by those who demand measuring systems be changed just because it sounds good to them. I convert units alk day long. It isn't a problem. If you want to see people start dying - lots of them - then start a pointless exercise of changing systems because you think it sounds goid. Then YOU be FIRST to sign up when the change takes place.
Please explain why ths UK uses a nautical mile of 1,853 metres instead.
I was taught 1852 at a U.K. school which is ICAO standard.
Most of us use Imperial or Metric? NO! Most of us use Metric, and that's it... And I mean 95 percent of the World's population for crying out loud. I live in the States, and have been using metric as much as possible.
Why u in United states and using metric system???
@@ZackWolfMusic I am an immigrant, and live in CA where you have tons of immigrants, it is sometimes easier. That said, I work as a driving instructor so I have to use miles... I am at peace with that
SI units, please!
TL;DR
Metric distance isn't good enough because it measures flat by default.
Why is altitude is measured in feets?
You could in theory have about 40 planes cross over each other with 1000ft difference. If it was 1000 metres separation you could only get 12 planes
Thanks for the explanation.
One the one hand, it would make sense to change to units that the vast majority of the world uses. On the other hand, it would be an MASSIVE task to change all of the software on planes and ATC equipment and things I can't imagine at once. Not to mention retraining pilots, controller, etc.
In 99+% of cases it does not affect safety. (except when fuel is delivered in one unit and the pilots/ground staff cannot convert it correctly)
This is what the US said in the 70s. It would be a massive task for the industry to switch from imperial to metric.
Imperial is more accurate than metric...
@@todortodorov940 I cannot disagree with you. So then, we can working on the marine industry next. Knots, beaufort, etc.
As an old American living the Europe for years, I am still working on getting my head around metric measurement. And I don't live in the UK, where they buy petrol/gasoline by the liter and measure consumption by MPG. AND, their gallons are different than US gallons.
@@ZackWolfMusic It isn't.
@@burkiwa Metric is not that bad. The US already uses some metric units like seconds, amper, mole, candela and derived units like volt, watt, lumen, kilowatthour etc.
There are a surprising number of planes and pilots using mph, so it's hard for me to agree that "Aviation" uses knots, when it is clear that NOT ALL of aviation uses it.
If it works then why fix it? Zipzone.
About 80% of the world uses the metric system, Airbus builds in metric, so most people know the metric measures, even the US Armed forces use metric! "Make it simple" less chance for screwups!
More chance. Using different units fir different things avoids confusion.
It's time to go metric, the only old measurement which has any kind of reasonable argument in its favour is altitude in feet, and even then, there are very few if any airspaces which actually use 43 flight levels, it could easily be divisions of 500m
BTW & FYI the Closed Captions DO NOT MATCH the Audio of this Video 😓😕😳
Thanks, this has been corrected 🛫✈️🛬 - TB
@@SimpleFlyingNews much appreciated as sometimes I just dont want to plug in my earphones and read the captions despite you superb voice over
I really hope that one day people finally drop those pesky miles and switch fully to metric
But why should the aviation industry do so?
The metrology is a tangled aircraft to navigate the navigation system
meter and kilo
They should use Furlongs per Fortnight!
I still don't understand WHY tho
To summarize: Units the The Flintstones were using and haven't yet been changed.
Use parsecs !
At some point ATC communication will be entirely computerized, then it will be much easier to switch if so desired. Doing so before that will not and should not happen.
... and altitude is still measured in feet. So is that imperial feet or is there a nautical foot that is just over 13 inches in length? Crazy to use nautical miles but call them miles, as if a committee could not decide to use imperial or metric units so baled out of making a decision by using something totally different
It is the International Foot. The Imperial foot is obsolete.
Nautical miles are used because they have a useful definition for navigation as they have a direct relationship to minutes of latitude. It wasn’t an arbitrary choice.