Thursday, December 06, 2007

Pilot Workshops


I just got an email from a website I just signed up with:



Lynda,
This week, I decided to send you a complete multimedia workshop rather than the standard "Tip of the Week". In this 17 minute workshop, Rod Machado offers some great tactics for flying non-precision approaches. You'll benefit from Rod's practical advice and enjoy his entertaining delivery. You can view the
workshop online using this link... http://www.pilotworkshops.com/public/344.cfm
Enjoy!
Mark Robidoux
PilotWorkshops.com
This was fun and educational to watch, and I see that they have numerous other topics. What a great resource!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Answer to the Puzzle Question

Yesterday's question was: Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway, and intends to take off. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels at any given time, moving in the opposite direction of rotation. Can the plane take off?

On first encounter this question, which has been showing up all over the Net, seems inane because the answer seems so obvious. However, as with the infamous Monty-Hall-three-doors-and-one-prize-problem (see The Straight Dope: "On Let's Make a Deal" you pick Door#1, 02-Nov-1990), the obvious answer is wrong, and you, Berj, are right--the plane takes off normally, with no need to specify frictionless wheels or anyother such foolishness. You're also right that the question is often worded badly, leading to confusion, arguments, etc. In short, we've got a topic screaming for the Straight Dope.

First the obvious-but-wrong answer. The unwary tend to reason by analogy to a car on a conveyor belt--if the conveyor moves backward at the same rate that the car's wheels rotate forward, the net result is that the car remains stationary. An aircraft in the same situation, they figure, would stay planted on the ground, since there'd be no air rushing over the wings to give it lift.

But of course cars and planes don't work the same way. A car's wheels are its means of propulsion--they push the road backwards (relatively speaking), and the car moves forward. In contrast, a plane's wheels aren't motorized; their purpose is to reduce friction during takeoff (and add it, by braking, when landing). What gets a plane moving are its propellers or jet turbines, which shove the air backward and thereby impel the plane forward. What the wheels, conveyor belt, etc, are up to is largely irrelevant.

Let me repeat: Once the pilot fires up the engines, the plane moves forward at pretty much the usual speed relative to the ground--and more importantly the air--regardless of how fast thec onveyor belt is moving backward. This generates lift on the wings, and the plane takes off. All the conveyor belt does is, as you correctly conclude, make the plane's wheels spin madly. A thought experiment commonly cited in discussions of this question is to imagine you're standing on a health-club treadmill in rollerblades while holding a rope attached to the wall in front of you. The treadmill starts; simultaneously you begin to haul in the rope. Although you'll have to overcome some initial friction tugging you backward, in short order you'll be able to pull yourself forward easily.

As you point out, one problem here is the wording of the question. Your version straightforwardly states that the conveyor moves backward at the same rate that the plane moves forward. If the plane's forward speed is 100 miles per hour, the conveyor rolls 100 MPH backward, and the wheels rotate at 200 MPH. Assuming you've got Indy-car-quality tires and wheel bearings, no problem. However, some versions put matters this way: "The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels at any given time, moving inthe opposite direction of rotation." This language leads to a paradox: If the plane moves forward at 5MPH, then its wheels will do likewise, and the treadmill will go 5 MPH backward. But if the treadmill is going 5 MPH backward, then the wheels are really turning 10 MPH forward. But if the wheels are going 10MPH forward . . . Soon the foolish have persuaded themselves that the treadmill must operate at infinite speed. Nonsense. The question thus stated asks the impossible -- simply put, that A = A + 5 -- and so cannot be framed in this way. Everything clear now? Maybe not. But believe this: The plane takes off.

Want an slightly easier answer (surprisingly, from an engineer!):
Bill is a pilot, with multiple engineering degrees,andowns a Cessna T210. "The truth is that, if you could build such a massivec onveyor belt, the plane would want to leave the ground sooner. The deal is that the air next to the conveyor/runway will move backward very near the surface with the effect being reduced as you get further away (higher). As an example, with the airplane moving forward at 40 knots and the conveyor moving backward at 40 knots, the air in the area between the conveyor and the wing will be moving backward at something less than 40 knots but more than 0. If we split the difference and say the air near the wing is being moved backward at 20 knots by the conveyor, the effective airspeed is 60 knots and the (light) plane is already flying.This effect is not imaginary. Remember how much effect there is on the performance of the plane in ground effect which starts half a wingspan above the ground!"

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Puzzle Question

Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway, and intends to take off. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels at any given time, moving in the opposite direction of rotation. Can the plane take off?

"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own."
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh,writer and aviation pioneer

Sunday, December 02, 2007

A Typical Day




Were you wondering why it took me so long to get the newsletter (and the big scholarship announcement) out yesterday? It hit emails after 10pm.



Well, we spent the night and started the day in Palm Springs, CA. There is always a lot of turbulence in and out of PSP, so it is NOT my favorite place to fly into. One of our passengers would certainly agree with me. She got out of the airplane looking a bit green...









We flew to Missoula, MT, to get more passengers and some fuel. I thought it was cold there, but then we flew on to Calgary, Canada. It was a very chilly -18 degrees C. It made the air freeze in your nose and throat. Can you imagine spending the entire winter here?











We then repositioned into Seattle, WA (we were actually trying to get into Boeing Field, but the weather was too bad). Once I got to the hotel room, I got to work and knocked it out...

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Girls With Wings Scholarship Announcement!

Brenda from San Jose, California, has been awarded our First Ever $500 GWW Flight Training Scholarship. Although each and every one of the scholarship applicants was amazing in her own way, Brenda’s zest and determination really shines! She says even though there have been no professionals in her family thus far, she has learned about ambition from her parents. And an encouraging high school guidance counselor aided her search for careers and to find out more about opportunities in aviation.

Brenda is currently majoring in Aviation at San Jose State University, which includes ground school only – since flight lessons are separate we will be posting updates on her flight lessons resuming in the spring. Brenda had worked at flying club and the mall to buy a few flight hours previously, but ran out of money because she “didn’t know” how to manage her training. So she is going to use her experiences to assist future Girls With Wings by taking pictures during flight training and chronicling her aviation education on http://www.girlswithwings.com/. Brenda even wants to even give out scholarships herself (once she becomes successful in her aviation career). Read her entire essay at www.girlswithwings.com/Apps/Brenda.html

Writes Brenda: “I believe that ambition is the key to opportunities, and ambition is what I have carried with me throughout my life. I would love to pass on my ambition to future female pilots out there; motivate and support them in any way possible. My future is based on goals, challenges, and the triumph of flight. My passion for flying has taken me this far and is continuing to take me even further, a place where the sky is the limit,”

This was a tough decision for me because all of the applicants make great GWW role models. Please stay in touch and keep us posted on your progress. The message board is there for all of us to mentor and network – and most of all – to encourage those that will follow in our footsteps. www.girlswithwings.com/messageboard.html Read all of the applications by clicking on the applicants’ pictures: www.girlswithwings.com/scholarshipapps.html A special thanks goes to GWW Cindy Jacobs, who donated $250 towards the scholarship amount. If you would like to donate to next year’s Girls With Wings scholarship, please visit www.girlswithwings.com/scholarship.html

As Brenda says, “Someday my name will be in a pilot’s certificate, someday my name will be on scholarship awards, and someday you will remember my passion and ambition and share it with those around you. Someday I will look down from my jet to those who looked down on me and I will make another girl out there look up to me. Someday.” You can email Brenda at bb_brenda1188@yahoo.com

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."
Gloria Steinem, journalist and women's right advocate.

Friday, November 30, 2007

'AVIATION SCHOLARSHIP DIRECTORY 2008

'AVIATION SCHOLARSHIP DIRECTORY 2008

'There's a lot of scholarship information floating around—if you know where to look. Therein lies the problem: Where do you find this information? Heather M. Cook, editor of Phoenix Flight Publications, has compiled a new directory to help you get started. Aviation Scholarship Directory 2008 includes information about 517 scholarships available for flight training, advanced ratings, mechanic and technical training, college degrees, specialized training, and more. The author, who "has won all nine scholarships she has ever applied for," offers advice on how to write a winning scholarship essay, what to expect when applying for a scholarship, and how to get great letters of recommendation. The 312-page soft-cover book sells for $24.99 and may be ordered online; an e-book version is available for $19.99, as is a year's worth of updates for $14.99. http://www.aopa.org/epilot/redir.cfm?adid=13764

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A Journalist is looking for a Girl With Wings


I received a message today from an author looking for an interviewee - but with a short lead time (thursday). If it doesn't apply to you, or if you know of someone who it does, please forward it on. I personally think that being a "minor" airline pilot could qualify...

Contact information follows. Please mention Girls With Wings if you should follow up on this - and let me know how it goes!

name = Pat Olsen
email = POls1212@Hotmail.com
comments = I'm a journalist. Pilot/writer Kevin Garrison passed this site on to me. Would you please post this? For a possible first-person column in the biz section of a top U.S. daily, I'm looking for a female pilot with a major airline to talk about how she juggles this job along with a side business and kids.

Contact: Patricia Olsen, POls1212@hotmail.com

DEADLINE=THURS. A.M. 11/29

p.s. I do not have any other information, and have not confirmed the request.

Monday, November 26, 2007

A Girl With Wings squeaks it on!


November 7th: Kristine was on her own, flying an airplane around the airport traffic pattern (a rectangular route from the departure end of the runway around to the approach end - takeoffs and landings are the two most important skills, after all). This is a huge leap for student pilots - can you imagine? - the courage it takes for a person to get into the airplane that they have only flown with an instructor, but this time - ALONE. There is still a lot of training to be after this point, but the instructor has trained for this day, and won't release a student until they're ready, but nerves being what they are, a lot of times it's the student who needs to know she's ready to go out on her own...

"You know, a lot of unexpected things happen, and usually they're not the ones you practice; but the fact that you practiced a lot of different things puts you in the proper mindset to handle whatever it is that comes along, even if it isn't the one that you've experienced before."-- Former
astronaut, Neil Armstrong (first man to land on the moon)

The picture above (Kristine wearing a shirt with writing on it) shows the tradition of cutting out the back of the tshirt to show how sweaty the solo student pilot has gotten. She is shown holding the cutout with her instructor pilot in the picture to the right.

Here are also videos of her flight, takeoff and landing phases...
http://www.girlswithwings.com/Bios/Kristine.html

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Female Pilots Still Face Obstacles

AVFLASH NEWS
November 21, 2007

Female Pilots Still Face Obstacles


By Mary Grady, News Writer, Editor
It wasn't that long ago that female pilots here in the U.S. were an uncommon sight -- and unsettling, to some. Now in other parts of the world, women are just starting to find their way into the front seat, and not everyone is happy about it. In Qatar, the first Arab woman to fly a helicopter has been widely ridiculed and subjected to threatening phone calls after appearing in public wearing her pilot's uniform. "All phone calls had a similar message to convey," Munira Al Dosri told The Peninsula. "People were telling me they felt ashamed to see me without the abaya and veil (Qatari women's traditional attire). They told me they were ashamed of me being a Qatari woman." Qatar, a small country bordered by Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, is one of the richest countries in the world. Al Dosri works for Gulf Helicopter and plans to continue flying and earning more ratings.

"My family, especially my parents, are very understanding and supportive," she said. "Thanks to them, I am able to carry on with my profession and focus on what I'm doing."

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/QatariHelicopterPilot_FemalePilotsStillFaceObstacles_196629-1.html

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

EAAs Learn to Fly Newsletter

Here's a great resource for you GWWs in Training:


Sign up for Reach for the Sky - EAA's Learn to Fly Newsletter
We'll send you a FREE monthly e-newsletter developed by EAA expressly for individuals like you who have an interest in learning to fly and a desire to join the ranks of the growing sport pilot universe. Reach for the Sky content will focus on answering your questions, identifying and explaining fears and apprehensions we've all faced learning to fly, discussing flight-training experiences and challenges, and providing learning tips for prospective and new student pilots. The newsletter will also include what you have experienced!. You are not only invited but encouraged to share your flight-training experiences with us so that we can share them with others in the community of new particpants in the world of aviation.To subscribe to Reach for the Sky, EAA's Learn to Fly Newsletter, enter your email address below and select 'Subscribe' from the drop down box. Don't worry, we won't pass on your e-mail to anyone else and you can unsubscribe at any time. See a sample

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Girls With Wings and the Brownies

Last weekend I went to NASA Glenn Research Center and had the opportunity to teach over 100 Brownies how to fly!

We still used the cockpit posters I use for the older girls in the GWW Activity, but this time the girls got to "fly" by attaching their "engine" (a balloon) to an airplane (straw) on a string. I will post more information on the activity on the website fun pages soon.

You have to love their enthusiasm!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Get your money here...

Girls With Wings wants to stress that it supports your goals of flight training and additional ratings, and is a corporate member of Women in Aviation, Intl. We support the same mission!

It's Not Too Late – New WAI Scholarships Listed
There is still time to apply for the 2008 Women in Aviation, International scholarship program. Applications must be postmarked by December 1, 2007. Scholarships are available in various categories including Engineering, Flight, Maintenance, Dispatcher and "General" scholarships that provide money for everything from transition training to college books to flight gear. For more information including scholarships offered and application requirements go to: http://www.wai.org/education/scholarships.cfm
Late Deadline Scholarships Also Available
If you need a little more time to get your application together OR if you have already applied for the maximum number of 2008 WAI scholarships (2), consider an additional application for one of the following late deadline scholarships. Deadline: December 10, 2007.- Bombardier Business Aircraft Services (Lear 31A Pilot Training)- Bombardier Aerospace (Learjet Maintenance Training)- ExpressJet Airlines, DBA Continental Express (Regional Jet Transition Course)- Garmin International (cash award and potential paid summer internship at Garmin)- Horizon Airlines (Dash 8 Q400 SIC Type Rating)- ICAO (Training Scholarship - Aviation Security)- ICAO (Training Scholarship - Environment)- ICAO (Training Scholarship - Communications, Navigation and Surveillance)- Telex Scholarship ($500 and a Telex ANR headset) The application deadline for these scholarships is December 10, 2007.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cartoon

I just love this cartoon. I think it says a lot for Girls With Wings, too, doesn't it?

Monday, November 12, 2007

A Girl With Wings Makes The News


At left is a page out of the Airline Owner and Pilot Association magazine featuring their program, Project Pilot, and in particular (bottom left) one of the GWWs, Lin!
Congratulations to the pilot you mentored, Jack, on his success, and thanks to you, Lin, for your support for this new pilot!
Read more about this program at http://flighttraining.aopa.org/projectpilot/

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Thunderstorms building at altitude.

Airplane Owners and Pilots Association (of which I am a member), has many resources for pilots online. For example: AOPA Air Safety Foundation Thunderstorm Avoidance Minicourse.

Thunderstorm clouds can be easy for VFR pilots to spot, but IFR pilots flying in the soup often rely on air traffic control (ATC) to route them around the severe weather.
Communication is key when working with ATC, as the AOPA Air Safety Foundation explains in its new four-minute minicourse, Avoiding Thunderstorms.

Avoiding Thunderstorms contains actual ATC transmissions between controllers and a pilot who flew into a Level 6 thunderstorm with tragic results. The audio dramatically illustrates the need for clear pilot-ATC communication and understanding of radar services provided.

The course advises pilots to verify with each controller they are handed off to exactly what services they will receive. This can help minimize the chances of a misunderstanding.

You'll also learn about ATC services, the enhancements in controllers' weather radar displays, and the importance of giving pilot reports. A list of weather- and ATC-related subjects at the end of the course leads you to more information. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2005/050701storms.html

You can also read one of their Safety Advisor Publications, 8 pages long, at http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa26.pdf, which includes:

What if the worst happens and you find yourself in the belly of the beast? You can increase your chances of surviving a thunderstorm encounter by taking a few, simple steps. First, throttle back and slow down before getting into severe turbulence.

Aiming for maneuvering speed (Va) can help protect the airframe from being overstressed by the violent air currents of a thunderstorm, but don’t try to “chase” a particular airspeed. As the airspeed needle swings wildly, you’ll be doing well to hold the average of the swings somewhere near the published Va.


The second step is to make the airplane as aerodynamically “dirty” as possible without lowering the flaps (which usually reduces structural strength). In complex aircraft, extend the landing gear. The added drag reduces the potential for rapid acceleration and, in turn, the potential for loss of control, or excessive airframe loads.

Finally, maintain a very loose straight-and-level flight attitude and forget about holding a particular heading, altitude or airspeed. Trying to exercise precise aircraft
control in a thunderstorm is both futile and counterproductive: It’s impossible, and it greatly increases the odds of damaging the airframe.

Thanks for checking out the Girls With Wings blog.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

More Scholarship

They are out there!

NEW WAI SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED; DEADLINE EXTENDED
Women in Aviation International has announced several new scholarships for 2008 plus an extended deadline to make it easier to apply. The new scholarships include type ratings from Bombardier Business Aircraft Services, ExpressJet, and HorizonAir, as well as a separate scholarship for Learjet maintenance training, also offered by Bombardier. Other new scholarships are being offered by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Garmin, and Telex, whose scholarship is accompanied by a headset. The deadline to apply for the new offerings is Dec. 10, while the deadline for the remaining 46 scholarships is still Dec. 1. For complete details and application information, see the http://www.wai.org/.

The application deadline for the 2008 AE Scholarships is fast approaching!
These scholarships are available to eligibile 99s members for flight training, jet type ratings, university studies in aviation, and aviation technical training. To confirm your chapter deadline, please contact your Chapter AE Scholarship Chairman or Chapter Chairman. The deadline for receipt by your Section AE Scholarship Chairman is **DECEMBER 1st** !

And, for 2008 we are again offering New Pilot Awards to complete your first pilot certificate and also the Maule Tailwheel Training Award. (The application deadline for these is April 1, 2008.)Information and all forms, including instructions and checklists for applicants and Chapter and Section AE Scholarship Chairmen, are on the 99s website (http://www.ninety-nines.org/).

Established in 1940 to honor our first 99s president Amelia Earhart and continue her legacy in helping deserving members to further accomplishments, today our Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Fund has surpassed $3 million thanks to the generous donations and bequests of 99s members. We would also like to thank United Parcel Service and the Maule Aircraft family.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Type Rating Scholarships

Southwest Airlines is proud to announce that we will award two scholarships for Boeing-737 type ratings. The scholarships are available to WAI members only who meet our minimum criteria (as described in this listing). The winners will be announced at the convention in San Diego, and training will be held in Dallas, Texas. Scholarship winners must be available for potential employment by SouthwestAirlines within one year of successful completion of the B-737 type rating class and additional review board. To obtain an application go to http://www.southwest.com/ and click on 'Careers,' scroll down to the 'What's new section' and click on the Women in Aviation link.

All scholarship applications must be postmarked on or before December 1, 2007.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Flight experience:- U.S. FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certificate.- Must be at least 23 years of age, at time of hire.- 2500 hours total or 1500 turbine total, including a minimum of 1000 hours in turbine aircraft as the Pilot in Command, as defined by FAR Part I. Recency of experience is considered.- Southwest considers only Pilot time in fixed wing air craft. This specifically excludes simulator, helicopter, WSO, RIO, FE, NAV, EWO,'Other,' etc. Medical:- Current FAA Class I Medical Certificate.- Must pass FAA mandated drug test. Education:- High School Diploma or equivalency required.- Graduation from an accredited, four-year college preferred. Work authorization: Established authorization to work in the United States Language: Must read, write, and speak English fluently. WAI Membership: Membership will be verified. Recommendation Letters: Minimum of three letters from any individuals who can attest to the pilot's flying skills.(Scholarship value $TBD)


This message was posted by Laura Smith, a first officer with Southwest Airlines and a huge advocate for women in aviation. She additionally wrote:



I've been specifically directed to post this information by a LUV Captain because evidently right now there is a lack of applicants for this. Southwest is a wonderful place to work, and even though there is no interviewing for pilots going on currently, wouldn't it be great for you tohave your B-737 type rating all completed when those interviews start again? You can't win if you don't apply!

Laura Smith

LUV FO

More information on joining Women in Aviation International can be found at http://www.wai.org/, and there are numerous other amazing scholarship opportunities listed on the website!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

More Shuttle Pictures

Courtesy of Elaine, check out these phenomenal pictures from someone who works for NASA sent us these pictures from the past mission (Endeavor). Hardly looks real! http://www.texasjim.com/NASApix/NASA%20pix.htm

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

The New Girls With Wings eZine

Hey all,

I finally got the newsletter out. I try to have it done the first of the month, but I have been overwhelmed with scholarship applications. I am going to have heck of a time choosing just one. See the applicants for yourself.

If you'd like to read the whole newsletter, go here.

And we are having some huge sales at the Girls With Wings store. Please help me keep GWW up and growing!
Thanks,
Lynda

Monday, November 05, 2007

The Islands


I took the following pictures when I was on a trip down to the Dominican Republic. You know the saying, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride?" Well, I guess that is true for me in the literal sense (ha), but also figuratively. The crew usually ends up in an exotic location at night, only to spend the evening getting to and checking into the hotel. I did have enough time the next morning to go for a jog before we flew out with passengers, but no lounging around the beach for me!
Ever wonder why water in the Caribbean has that distinctive range of blue to green colors?
If someone were to ask you what is the color of the ocean, chances are that you would answer that is was blue. For most of the world's oceans, your answer would be correct. Pure water is perfectly clear, of course -- but if there is a lot of water, and the water is very deep so that there are no reflections off the sea floor, the water appears as a very dark navy blue. The reason the ocean is blue is due to the absorption and scattering of light. The blue wavelengths of light are scattered, similar to the scattering of blue light in the sky but absorption is a much larger factor than scattering for the clear ocean water. In water, absorption is strong in the red and weak in the blue, thus red light is absorbed quickly in the ocean leaving blue. Almost all sunlight that enters the ocean is absorbed, except very close to the coast.
According to NASA Oceanography at http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/living/color.html, blue water in the Caribbean Sea looks blue because the sunlight is scattered by the water molecules. Near the Bahama Islands, the lighter aqua colors are shallow water where the sunlight is reflecting off of the sand and reefs near the surface.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Lat Long


This is the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at KPDK (Peachtree DeKalb, GA). On the corner of the building you can see the "lat long" of the building. Due to the increasingly frequent use of GPS in aviation, this information comes in handy for pilots initializing their Flight Management Systems (FMS). They can plug in these numbers so that the GPS can find itself and accurately plot the route to their destination.


What is "lat long" or latitude and longitude?


When looking at a map, latitude lines run horizontally. Latitude lines are also known as parallels since they are parallel and are an equal distant from each other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart; there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere but an oblate ellipsoid (slightly egg-shaped). To remember latitude, imagine them as the horizontal rungs of a ladder ("ladder-tude"). Degrees latitude are numbered from 0° to 90° north and south. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 90° north is the North Pole and 90° south is the South Pole.


The vertical longitude lines are also known as meridians. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0°). The degrees continue 180° east and 180° west where they meet and form the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the site of the British Royal Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the Prime Meridian by an international conference in 1884.

To precisely locate points on the earth's surface, degrees longitude and latitude have been divided into minutes (') and seconds ("). There are 60 minutes in each degree. Each minute is divided into 60 seconds. Seconds can be further divided into tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths. For example, the U.S. Capitol is located at 38°53'23"N , 77°00'27"W (38 degrees, 53 minutes, and 23 seconds north of the equator and 77 degrees, no minutes and 27 seconds west of the meridian passing through Greenwich, England).


Information from http://geography.about.com/cs/latitudelongitude/a/latlong.htm Map is from http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm


Also, Hawker Beechcraft is the company that makes the Beechjet, which is the airplane I fly.