finncapt - I agree with all of that Astro folklore, or at least my old memory does !
I recall choosing recognisable stars over those giving the best "cut", better to have a slightly off centre fix than one totally incorrect due to using the 'wrong' star.
vctenderness - Half Pint was the C/Stwd. on my final route check for promotion, taxying out I stopped and asked for Half Pint to come to the flight deck and asked him to sit in the jump seat. Why ? he asked. So I know what the Bl**dy Hell you're doing, I replied. He roared with laughter and buckled in.
The Training Captain wondered what he had let himself in for.
Half Pint got his own back, when I got off at LHR my jacket sleeves had been stitched up at the cuff end, and the innards of a (clean ! ) Tampax had been stitched around the peak of my cap to simulate the gold braid of a Captains' hat !!
Happy Days.
P.s. It was Half Pint who told Dudley Moore to get his hair cut - see my post on another thread !
jhieminga - thanks, that's it. ( I said retired, maybe not yet ? )