Path discrepancies between great circle and rhumb line

Abstract

A mathematical model for a comparative analysis of great circle vs. rhumb line navigation in the continental United States has been developed at the Avionics Engineering Center, Ohio University. A FORTRAN simulation of the model has been implemented on the IBM 370 computer. The simulation predicts pertinent navigation information for the two flight paths. The basis for the project, which is a part of an M.S. thesis, is to provide a data base for computing discrepancies between the two flight paths. This document briefly describes the model and discusses the implications of the results obtained.