Kilometers vs Nautical Miles

[Solty]

I love P-51... but hate imperial stuff.

 

One side of me says "I wish somebody made a mod to change it to metric." And then my other side says "C'mon you want to fly the 'real' thing, during WW2 they flew with imperial".

 

Normally in any other sim I go for metric hud. Its also way more satisfying to see that you fly 750kph than 466mph :P and your altitude instead of 16400ft is 5000m :)

Edited July 19, 2015 by Solty

[Emu]

I know that Russian planes use kilometers and that American planes use nautical miles. Is one any better than the other? I'm curious as to what the advantages / disadvantages are of the different scales.

I find feet much easier for landing. Metres are kind of large when you're that close to the ground.

 

However, if I was doing a calculation for anything scientific I would always convert to SI (metres) because I'm not messing around with scaling factors during complicated calculations, that's how c0ck-ups happen.

 

For other things they just make sense due to scale. E.g. thrust-to-weight ratios for fighters. lbf is usually close to lbs weight in magnitude. Newtons aren't particularly close to anything.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Emu

[King_Hrothgar]

I prefer metric, it's much simpler and I say that as an American. Other than gallons of gas and mph on the highway, I can't say I've ever used imperial. And even on the road it holds little meaning to me. Whether the signs say 75mph speed limit and 90 miles to xxxx or 120km/h limit and 144km to xxxx makes no difference, the calculation is the same. I suspect one of these days the world will tell the USA to ****off and everyone will switch to metric for aviation regardless of what the USA does. But that day hasn't come just yet.

[ФрогФут]

I find feet much easier for landing. Metres are kind of large when you're that close to the ground.

And what precision will the air data computer/pitot and radar altimeter give IRL?

[schroedi]

And what precision will the air data computer/pitot and radar altimeter give IRL?

 

30 - 20 - 10 - touch down. :-)

 

What I hate about imperial units, when americans tell you how tall they are e.g. 5 foot 7 inch (spoken 5 foot 7). They are using two different units for one measurement. Why can't they just say 5.58 feet?

Edited July 20, 2015 by schroedi

[Beagle One]

The real annoyance in the use of the differnt systems is that simple tools like wrenches and drivers bits simply dont fit, neither do threads and nut and bolts. Maintainignn a british made car from the 70's with a metric toolset is a nightmare.

[QuiGon]

Haha, point taken. :D

 

I actually have a claim against the metric system as well, but will suggest an upgrade right away.

 

One thousand watts are called a kilowatt. One thousand kilowatts are called a megawatt.

 

One thousand meters are called a kilometer. One thousand kilometers are called one thousand kilometers.

 

One thousand grams are called a kilogram. One thousand kilograms are called a ton.

 

Since, obviously, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, why don't we just stick to the prefixes we already have and thus call...

- one thousand kilowatts a megawatt.

- one thousand kilometers a megameter.

- one thousand kilograms a megagram.

 

It may sound weird at first, but it's actually inherently correct.

 

That's not a claim against the metric system! It's a claim against how we use it, because the SI-units for that are actually megameter and megagram, they are just not used by the ordinary citizen. The ton for example is not part of the SI-System, it's just accepted by it.

[Wolf Rider]

The real annoyance in the use of the differnt systems is that simple tools like wrenches and drivers bits simply dont fit, neither do threads and nut and bolts. Maintainignn a british made car from the 70's with a metric toolset is a nightmare.

 

lol... SAE/ Whitworth/ Metric threads and Imperial/ Metric nut/ bolt heads - its enough to do the head in :)

[Stealth_HR]

I love P-51... but hate imperial stuff.

 

One side of me says "I wish somebody made a mod to change it to metric." And then my other side says "C'mon you want to fly the 'real' thing, during WW2 they flew with imperial".

 

Well, someone already went and made the MiG-21 Imperial cockpit - shame nobody is doing that in the other direction for all the Imperial jets.

[RightStuff]

http://imgur.com/ua9xmtI

 

... and the ones who had been on the moon, screwed a Mars Mission by using the "moon-certified" system of measurement:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

 

Just read the first paragraph. :thumbup:

 

 

To be honest:

Me, as an astronomic enthusiast, felt very sad about the loss. :(

[Holbeach]

There is another system of measurement, much favoured by the media and documentaries, which goes back to earlier times.

 

The Elephant, the Jumbo Jet, The Olympic swimming pool, the tennis court, the soccer pitch, the Eifel Tower etc.

 

This truck is the weight of 30 Elephants.

 

Or this ship is the weight of 100 Jumbo Jets.

 

This is the area of 4 tennis courts.

 

The length of 10 soccer pitches.

 

The height/ depth of 20 Eifel Towers.

 

It is meant for people who cannot relate to Metric or Imperial and is enhanced by loud noises to accompany them on a journey through the universe and keep them awake.

 

Enjoy your telly tonight.

 

 

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[Yurgon]

Need to suppress urge to make fun of people who think that °C is the SI unit for temperature... :P:D

 

a) I'm not even sure the image I linked claimed that °C were an SI unit

b) In any case, please, don't suppress said urge, we'll all have a good laugh if you don't :music_whistling: :D

 

That's not a claim against the metric system! It's a claim against how we use it, because the SI-units for that are actually megameter and megagram, they are just not used by the ordinary citizen. The ton for example is not part of the SI-System, it's just accepted by it.

 

Huh, interesting point. ;)

 

Then again, I wasn't actually arguing in favor of the International System of Units, I was trying to argue in favor of the metric system and trying to improve our day-to-day usage of it.

 

(This is off-topic, but I think SI is terribly wrong when it comes to kilobytes, megabytes and so on. I'm therefore not a fan of SI as such, even though it makes sense in many areas. Coming back on-topic, we should be careful not to mix up SI and the metric system :smartass:).

 

There is another system of measurement, much favoured by the media and documentaries, which goes back to earlier times.

 

The Elephant, the Jumbo Jet, The Olympic swimming pool, the tennis court, the soccer pitch, the Eifel Tower etc.

 

Haha, yeah, good points. :D

[Wolf Rider]

There is another system of measurement, much favoured by the media and documentaries, which goes back to earlier times.

 

The Elephant, the Jumbo Jet, The Olympic swimming pool, the tennis court, the soccer pitch, the Eifel Tower etc.

 

This truck is the weight of 30 Elephants.

 

Or this ship is the weight of 100 Jumbo Jets.

 

This is the area of 4 tennis courts.

 

The length of 10 soccer pitches.

 

The height/ depth of 20 Eifel Towers.

 

It is meant for people who cannot relate to Metric or Imperial and is enhanced by loud noises to accompany them on a journey through the universe and keep them awake.

 

Enjoy your telly tonight.

 

 

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Tads, Smidges and Bee's whatsit :) for fine measurement

[QuiGon]

I think it hasn't been said so far, but it's worth to be mentioned: There are only 3 (yes, three!) countries in the world that use the imperial system (USA, Bumrma/Myanmar and Liberia)! The rest uses the metric system. Makes you wonder why.

[Holbeach]

The metric system is gradually taking over in Britain, but I'll never replace :---

 

"Let's go to the pub for a quick pint"

 

With :----

 

Let's go to the pub for a quick 568 milliliters. :drink:

 

 

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[King_Hrothgar]

You just need to upgrade to "let's go to the pub for a quick liter." That should make everyone happy, especially the bartender.

[schroedi]

What is the official unit in the USA for the power of a car engine? Horsepower?

Because in the EU it's KW but most people use horsepower when they talk about cars.

[Holbeach]

You just need to upgrade to "let's go to the pub for a quick liter." That should make everyone happy, especially the bartender.

 

Great idea and a great big glass. :)

 

But in England, the pint is the only legal tender for draught beer, so you just have to fill it up more often. :drink:

 

 

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[Beagle One]

What is the official unit in the USA for the power of a car engine? Horsepower?

Because in the EU it's KW but most people use horsepower when they talk about cars.

and to make it worse...the imperial BHP is not equal to the continental HP.

 

50kw = 67 BHP = 68 HP