Re: Time Variance Regarding Helicopter

yngver@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
> 
> On May 15, 3:42 pm, ddl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Dan Lanciani) wrote:
> > In article <MPG.229630017908c4d298a...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
buffhun...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Hunter) writes:
> >
> > | Frank did say "...Hey, Faraday told me as long as I stayed on the
vector...=
> > | " but he=20
> > | is mistaken, he didn't. He believes so because he probably thinks he
went o=
> > | ff course=20
> > | by only 5 degrees and only a few seconds but it was enough to
scramble Desm=
> > | ond's=20
> > | brain. He didn't think it was *THAT* im****tant but it was. Faraday
as a sci=
> > | entist is=20
> > | just more percise than Frank the Airline/chopper pilot. Sure pilots
are per=
> > | cise too,=20
> > | but to them a five degree variation in course for only a few seconds
isn't =
> > | that big a=20
> > | deal. To faraday it was. It was a misunderstanding between
"cultures" "Scie=
> > | nce geek"=20
> > | and "pilot jock". To a science geek if you are off by an inch you
got to do=
> > |  the=20
> > | experiment over again. That is what Frank didn't get.
> >
> > (Not disagreeing that going off course caused the problem, but...)
> >
> > If Faraday were a real scientist he would have specified the allowable
> > variance from the heading either as a percentage or as an absolute
number
> > of degrees.  He would also explain whether there is a time-compounding
effect
> > of being off course.  Telling Frank to stay "exactly" on a particular
heading
> > is meaningless since the mechanical realities of the helicopter and
the
> > available resolution of the indicator will always make this
impossible.  I
> > expect Sayid is going to have even more trouble with the raft.
> >
> > Two other things bothered me.  Was the course on Faraday's "cheat
sheet"
> > more complicated than a single heading?  I didn't get a good look at
it;
> > can someone check?  It's very convenient that the ****p is stuck in a
position
> > that allows the required heading for going to and from the island to
actually
> > take you... to and from the island.  I assume they had positioned
themselves
> > there before Michael sabotaged the engines.  Had he sabotaged the
engines a
> > bit earlier he might have better accomplished his goal.  In
particular, if
> > you are close enough to the island that the magic heading is already
required
> > to avoid side effects but you are not on a line along that heading
relative
> > to the island you might be in trouble.
> >
> The cheat sheet actually says "40 miles N @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 305 (degree symbol)" and
> below that line "7 K EAST". So it is a little more complicated than a
> single heading.
> 
> You are right, how can Sayid hold to that exact heading in a raft? Yet
> in our last glimpse of Sayid he was quite confidently sailed rapidly
> toward the island.
> -yngver

From what I can make out from that 'cheat sheet', Frank was to fly from
the island on a heading of 305 degrees for 40 miles, then turn east and
fly 7 kilometers.  At which point he would locate the freighter.  I
don't know if the 'miles' are nautical or statute.  I'm guessing it is
nautical because it has been stated in an episode that is how far the
freighter is from the island.


Fred Ellis
-- 
Who do you serve. . . .   And who do you trust?
(To e-mail me, remove the X from my address)