On 4/3/2017 12:47 PM, Tauno Voipio wrote:
> On 3.4.17 17:29, Martin Gregorie wrote:
>
>> Nope - I wouldn't have a clue about my weight and height in Imperial
>> units, but then NZ went metric before the UK did - and did it faster,
>> cheaper and with a lot less hassle than happened here. It was quite a
>> shock to arrive here and have go back to using outdated Imperial units.
>>
>> Small side note: actually, I do use some of the old units due to the
>> pervasive ICAO influence on aviation. As a glider pilot I measure speed
>> and rate of climb in knots, altitude in both feet and meters and distance
>> in km (because the Silver, Gold and Diamond badges measure distance in km
>> and height in meters).
>
> In aviation, there is some sense in distances in nautical
> miles (1 arc minute on great circle) and speeds in knots.
>
> Altitudes are measured in feet. The explanation was that
> on the altimeter 1000 m / revolution was too coarse and
> 100 m / revolution too fast.
>
> Vertical speeds are measured in feet/minute.
>
> As a born metric system user, I see aviation as a huge
> mess of all kinds of units, especially as American made
> aircraft have the manuals in inches and pounds.

I was born with English units here in the US.  I hate them.  At work I
was surprised to learn the mechanical engineers all still use the
English units.  It is mind boggling to me that we have not converted yet.

Some time ago, I believe in the 70's, we had an agreement with Canada to
convert to metric.  There were a number of stages, the first few being
informational (make citizens aware of the project), educational (we
still teach metric in schools) and some initial conversions (that's why
we have km/hr on car speedometers).  We got through those initial stages
and told Canada, "You go on ahead and we'll catch up later".  They did
and we haven't.  They are through the painful part and have been reaping
the benefits for decades.  Maybe we can get Trump to "Make America
Metric".

--

Rick C

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