Inertial Navigation System and Equipment Designs for Commercial Aviation

This paper describes design considerations that lead to the development of a commercial inertial navigation system, the SGN-10 to be installed aboard each of Pan American World Airways’ Boeing 707 jet transports. New techniques of alignment and in-flight digital computation eliminate the requirement for initial heading set-up from external references. Also, world-wide navigation is accomplished with a single computer mode. Requirements for airway-type guidance (return to a fixed path on earth with settable, selectable destinations) are satisfied, and guidance displays are tied into existing cockpit instruments. The paper shows that microcircuit digital computers and nonfloated inertial components are now practical for any commercial installations.