IANRP President, Paul Anderson, Pilot Biologist
 North Dakota Department of Game and Fish

Knots. One of those obscure terms which all of us in aviation use, but many of us do not know the derivation. To our members who are reading this and may have more nautical experience than I, it probably seems silly that this is a big deal, but since I started flying planes that indicate speed in knots, I have wondered where the term originated. My first charter trip was in a Comanche in 1986. I was flying passengers from Pierre, South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when my front seat passenger asked "how fast are we going?", and since I had a state of the art DME I answered "150 knots". The next question from my passenger was, "How many miles per hour is that?". Being a professional pilot on my first charter, I of course knew the answer was 170 miles per hour (or somewhere around there.) The discussion the led to where the word ‘knots’ came from, what it represents, and so on. I had to admit I didn’t know. Not wanting to be embarrassed in the future by not knowing all there is to know about aviation, I checked with my fellow charter pilots. They didn’t know either.

One Tuesday night in March, I was watching NOVA on PBS. A researcher was explaining where the term ‘knots’ was derived. It was used by early sailors. A line was attached to a triangle of wood called the log. The line had knots tied at intervals of 48 feet, 3 inches. The navigator would shout "turn" and the sailor would count the number of knots flowing through his fingers in the time it took a 28 second sand glass to empty. This would give the speed of the ship in knots. So simple, but the answer eluded me for a long time.

We, as members of the International Association of Natural Resource Pilots, have many questions where the answer eludes us. The information is often there, but we have such unique hobs that we have to find the right person to ask. In the field of natural resource flying the exchange of this information is invaluable to getting the fob done and getting the fob done safely. The organization has three food forums for the exchange of this information, One is the newsletter you are reading. Another is Con-aero which is available to all members that subscribe via e-mail. Third is our annual meeting, where we exchange information and meet members who provide great contacts for information on these kinds of questions. I want to encourage all of you to use any of these resources when you have information or Questions. I feel this is our organizations purpose. As a group we do a unique type of flying and there are relatively few of us. I am glad that this organization, its members , and its resources are available.