You will sometimes hear older pilots refer to a magnetic compass as a “whiskey compass.” Magnetic compasses are usually filled with some liquid to dampen it so it’s ever possible to read; an air-filled compass never stops swinging back and forth. Water would be the obvious choice, but then you’ll have an algae filled compass.
Legend has it that the US Navy in World War II used ethanol to fill the compasses. And then the planes would come back with empty compasses because the navy pilots drank it. So they switched to kerosene. And then the marines drank it.
You will sometimes hear older pilots refer to a magnetic compass as a “whiskey compass.” Magnetic compasses are usually filled with some liquid to dampen it so it’s ever possible to read; an air-filled compass never stops swinging back and forth. Water would be the obvious choice, but then you’ll have an algae filled compass.
Legend has it that the US Navy in World War II used ethanol to fill the compasses. And then the planes would come back with empty compasses because the navy pilots drank it. So they switched to kerosene. And then the marines drank it.