December 31, 2020 at 6:33 pm
I have in my collection a large green canvas navigators bag but why is it so big ?
What went in it besides a few maps , pencils and the usual navigators instruments ?
This has puzzled me for a while at one point i thought it was large so they could carry their flying helmet goggles ect or even their parachute pack but after viewing period photographs and film i have even dismissed that.
By: Ant.H - 4th January 2021 at 10:52
I’m not an expert on Bomber Command kit, but just as an “enthusiast’s guesstimate” I would think that A) a Nav’s bag would be a standard bit of kit for all aircraft types and the B) even in the heavy bombers the Nav wasn’t always at the table. On the Lanc there was a folding “second Dicky” seat behind the pilot and the Pilot’s headrest could be flipped down as something to lean on, so a Nav would sometimes sit in this position when D/R navigating in daylight, at low level etc.
This is how the BBMF Lanc Navs work today, sitting behind the Pilot rather than using the table.
By: ballturret - 3rd January 2021 at 23:48
Thanks for the reply but what about a Lancaster navigator, i thought he did not need a chart board as he had a dedicated table with a fixed rule on a pantograph arm or am i wrong ?
By: Aircraft - 31st December 2020 at 23:53
To carry the chart board!