In the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922, several methods of astronomical maritime navigation were used with adaptions to aerial navigation. In order to apply these methods, the navigator needed to know the approximate altitude of the aircraft so that its position could be determined. The instrument available at that time, the altimeter, did not give reliable values for altitude. Therefore, Coutinho had to devise a method that enabled the navigator to determine the altitude quickly and efficiently. The method Coutinho devised is based on a mathematical and geometrical procedure. In this paper, we study in detail Coutinho's method to determine altitude, with diagrams to aid understanding of the deductions and calculations. We also present a real example of how this method would be used during the flight.

中文翻译：

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库蒂尼奥的海拔方法

在 1922 年 Gago Coutinho 和 Sacadura Cabral 首次空中穿越南大西洋时，使用了几种适应空中导航的天文海上导航方法。为了应用这些方法，导航员需要知道飞机的大致高度，以便确定其位置。当时可用的仪器高度计没有给出可靠的高度值。因此，库蒂尼奥必须设计一种方法，使导航员能够快速有效地确定高度。库蒂尼奥设计的方法是基于数学和几何程序。在本文中，我们详细研究了库蒂尼奥确定高度的方法，并附有图表以帮助理解推论和计算。