The Finch: Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
About five hours into the flight, Hugo said, "Captain, I can see the east branch in the distance."
Georgia looked and saw the branch of the RIR. She flew the Finch to where the branch met the east loop and stopped the Finch at two thousand feet up, at the junction.
She turned on the long range incoming radio and waited. After five minutes, there was a voice that said, "Reinpe, Tower NE2, LRF 182, at tone Ohee time, 151500."
Georgia said, "Look at the Ohee time clock and note the time when the tone goes."
"Yes Captain."
There was a tone, and Hugo quickly wrote down the time.
Georgia turned off the long range income radio. She said, "Alright, Lieutenant, calculate our distance from the tower." This procedure was relatively easy for Hugo to do. The voice at each long range tower, periodically would give a time on the island of Ohee, which was in the Fisiaow island group. All flying ships were equipped with Ohee time clocks in addition to local time clocks. The voice would say the island it was on, which tower it was, what its long range frequency setting was and, at a tone, what the time was on the island of Ohee. When listening to the radio signal, a person would locate the tower on a map, and then look at their Ohee clock. When the tone came, they would write the time down. The time would be different from what the voice had said it would be, because it took time for the sound to travel from the tower to the ship. The time on the ship clock would be ahead of the time that the voice said it would be. Using the speed of sound and the difference in times, a ship could calculate how far it was from the tower. Using three towers, a ship could figure out exactly where it was.
Hugo said, after writing and doing the calculation, "Captain, we are slightly over one hundred and forty two miles away from the tower."
"Does that match the distance we should be on the map?"
Hugo checked with his ruler and did another calculation and said, "Yes Captain, it does."
"Good, now we know that it works out properly. Now calculate our distance to the port."
Hugo measured on the map and wrote some more. Then he said, "It is almost exactly three hundred and forty miles due east. It is actually slightly south of that."
Georgia said, "Alright Lieutenant, that should take us …" Georgia did a calculation on a paper next to her and said, "One hour and eight minutes."
"Very good Captain."
Georgia looked at the clock, turned the Finch east, and increased the speed to three hundred miles per hour. She said to Hugo, "Adjust the short range incoming and outgoing frequency to the Aockik setting, once we cross the water."
"Yes Captain."
About five hours into the flight, Hugo said, "Captain, I can see the east branch in the distance."
Georgia looked and saw the branch of the RIR. She flew the Finch to where the branch met the east loop and stopped the Finch at two thousand feet up, at the junction.
She turned on the long range incoming radio and waited. After five minutes, there was a voice that said, "Reinpe, Tower NE2, LRF 182, at tone Ohee time, 151500."
Georgia said, "Look at the Ohee time clock and note the time when the tone goes."
"Yes Captain."
There was a tone, and Hugo quickly wrote down the time.
Georgia turned off the long range income radio. She said, "Alright, Lieutenant, calculate our distance from the tower." This procedure was relatively easy for Hugo to do. The voice at each long range tower, periodically would give a time on the island of Ohee, which was in the Fisiaow island group. All flying ships were equipped with Ohee time clocks in addition to local time clocks. The voice would say the island it was on, which tower it was, what its long range frequency setting was and, at a tone, what the time was on the island of Ohee. When listening to the radio signal, a person would locate the tower on a map, and then look at their Ohee clock. When the tone came, they would write the time down. The time would be different from what the voice had said it would be, because it took time for the sound to travel from the tower to the ship. The time on the ship clock would be ahead of the time that the voice said it would be. Using the speed of sound and the difference in times, a ship could calculate how far it was from the tower. Using three towers, a ship could figure out exactly where it was.
Hugo said, after writing and doing the calculation, "Captain, we are slightly over one hundred and forty two miles away from the tower."
"Does that match the distance we should be on the map?"
Hugo checked with his ruler and did another calculation and said, "Yes Captain, it does."
"Good, now we know that it works out properly. Now calculate our distance to the port."
Hugo measured on the map and wrote some more. Then he said, "It is almost exactly three hundred and forty miles due east. It is actually slightly south of that."
Georgia said, "Alright Lieutenant, that should take us …" Georgia did a calculation on a paper next to her and said, "One hour and eight minutes."
"Very good Captain."
Georgia looked at the clock, turned the Finch east, and increased the speed to three hundred miles per hour. She said to Hugo, "Adjust the short range incoming and outgoing frequency to the Aockik setting, once we cross the water."
"Yes Captain."
