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oroboros commented on the word whisky compass
The last resort in a modern airliner cockpit if all computer navigation units fail. It's the manual, old-as-the-hills compass mounted at the top of the cockpit windows to be used in so-called "dead reckoning" navigation (flying by the "seat of your pants" and following your course by reference to the manual compass). Filled with alcohol, hence the "whiskey" moniker.
Interesting aside: the DC-9 manual compass is mounted in a cubbyhole in such a way that it has to be read by a fold-down mirror.
January 2, 2007