Now that we often use maps on our phones to help us navigate our routes, what do pilots rely on to navigate their planes over fixed routes?
In fact, pilots in their daily work using navigation tools to fly, are inseparable from the aerial map.
But how did aerial maps come about?
That’s because of Elrey Borge Jeppesen, a pilot at the turn of the last century.
1918 The United States Post Office opened an air mail route from New York to Washington, D.C.
Since then, the mail route has expanded into a 2,612-mile (4,203 km) air route with 13 stopovers from New York to San Francisco, connecting the east and west coasts of the United States.
In 1930, at the age of 23, with a childhood dream of flying, Jepson joined the Boeing Air Transport Company as an airmail pilot.
To make sure they don’t get lost, pilots keep a map of roads, cities, rivers and lakes by Rand McNally, a well-known mapmaker.
During this period, aircraft navigation was still in the stage of visual navigation, and pilots relied on ground signs and maps to find the way. At this time, the aircraft could not fly too high, and pilots had to stare at the ground with their eyes to search for markers.
Some signs are easy to recognize, such as towers, railways, rivers and so on.
But some signs may not be clear, such as text signs and so on.
Other problems are that pilots who follow roads on maps can easily get lost if they are accidentally blown off course by the wind or lose sight of the road at night.
You MAY also ENCOUNTER tall TREES AND towers, which are flying “ground enemies”, none of which are marked on the map. If you hit them, you will be destroyed.
To solve these problems, beginning in the 1920s, the federal government began to invest in radio beacons and navigation lighthouses, which use radio signals and lights to guide flights.
However, due to the lack of effective means of information release, most pilots do not know this, so they still get lost and crash into trees in flight.
At this point, Jepsen showed up.
When Jepson started flying mail routes in 1930, he bought a black notebook to record every detail of his flight path.
For example, which city’s water tower is visible from the air, which river has a tall tree, which local government has built a lighthouse and radio beacon…
These are increasingly being added to Rand McNally’s Road Map supplement.
Jepson’s “Little Black Book” has a page of records about RoRiver airport.
It not only drew the outline of the layout like a son, but also gave special instructions to be careful of high ground when landing west.
The right side of the page also records the air characteristics of the town of Rockriver, where the airport is located.
As he took more and more notes, Jepson decided that observing from the air was not enough, and he began to do fieldwork.
Climb mountains to measure altitude, persuade local residents to donate their phone numbers, tell him the weather over the phone…
It was all recorded again.
According to the description of Medicine Bow Airport on “Little Black Ben,” pilots are advised to consult the airport for weather information, and the airport has a radio beacon with a beacon call sign.
The little black book also has a description of the sea route lighthouse.
In his notes, Jepson noted that it was safe to fly over the Arss Ranon lighthouse at night from above 3,500 feet.
In this way, over time, the black notebook became thicker and thicker. When found by fellow pilots around, they marveled that it was like a “Harry Potter magic book”.
“Little Black Book” fits the practical flight, easy to use, and was immediately spread.
At first Jepson had no idea of running a business and made several copies to give to friends, but later more and more people asked for the notes.
Jepsen was smart enough to see a business opportunity.
In 1934 he borrowed $450 and founded the Jepsen Company in the basement of his Salt Lake City home, selling copies of notes for $10 each.
You know, at the time, the United States was in the middle of the Great Depression, and the price for a notebook was an astronomical price.
And so the aviation intelligence industry was born, all from a book of flight notes.
Flight notes sold so well that the basement soon ran out.
Jepson moved the company out of his home and rented a large room with a large table so he could personally examine every chart sold.
United Airlines thought there was money to be made and wanted to do it too.
Unfortunately, the United pilots preferred the Jepsen chart.
United had to buy it from Jepsen.
During World War II, only the Jepsen Company in the United States had complete navigation data, and the military began to purchase Jepsen charts in large quantities.
The golden age of the company began, and soon followed the U.S. military around the world.
By 2005, Jepsen, which had grown from a single laptop, had become the world’s largest aviation intelligence service (now a subsidiary of Boeing), with a market capitalisation of $121m.
With offices in Germany, Italy, Sweden and Australia, the company employs 3,200 people worldwide and specializes in navigation information, aircraft, operations management and optimization solutions, crew and fleet management solutions and flight training.
To this day, the Jepsen Company continues to publish the visual and instrument charts that pilots need.
The Jepsen route map is composed of aerial and topographic maps. It mainly provides navigation information needed in flight, and is used to make flight plans, clarify aircraft positions, maintain a safe altitude and ensure the reception of navigation signals.
A statue named after Jepsen stands in the middle of the main terminal at Denver International Airport, honoring him as a “pioneer in air navigation and aviation safety.”
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