Super Hero navigation

[dans]

So you are a superhero and you can fly... and you need to get to Key West as quickly as possible... how difficult would it be? Assume you are on the East Coast.

But... you are in Boston and you need to get to Central City in as short a time as possible - how do you know where Central City is? How does any flying hero get to a new location the first time?

Does Green Lantern have GPS built into his ring? How about the Will Payton Starman? I know Doc Savage had every city in the world memorized, but how do other heroes manage it?

[redsycorax]

Batman probably invented the GPS on several Earths!
Hawkman and Hawkwoman probably used the Absorbascon to memorise geographical landmarks and distances.
J'Onn J'Onnz is a telepath- he'd probably just borrow the information from someone skilled in such things.
Red Tornado is an android and as such has an inbuilt GPS before the fact
In the case of Superman, Supergirl and other Kryptonians/Daxamites, it's enhanced sensory capabilities.
Dr Fate, the Spectre, Zatanna and Zatara wouldn't be bound by conventional three dimensional boundaries.
Starman may well navigate through stellar indices built into his cosmic rod.

[johnreiter902]

Jan 19, 2024 0:00:29 GMT dans said:

So you are a superhero and you can fly... and you need to get to Key West as quickly as possible... how difficult would it be? Assume you are on the East Coast.

But... you are in Boston and you need to get to Central City in as short a time as possible - how do you know where Central City is? How does any flying hero get to a new location the first time?

Does Green Lantern have GPS built into his ring? How about the Will Payton Starman? I know Doc Savage had every city in the world memorized, but how do other heroes manage it?

1) I would follow the coastline to the tip of Florida, probably, then maybe buy a road map to navigate from the air

2) Buy a road map, and follow the interstate highway system (it sounds silly, but it makes sense)

Green Lantern was a pilot before becoming a superhero, so he was probably very familiar with navigating from the air by landmarks and knowing what cities looked like and when he was getting close. This is most likely a skill flying heroes learn by experience, just like pilots do.

If you have enhanced senses, like Superman, you can also look for road signs, and other indicators of what city/state you are in without even having to land

[jonclark]

Back before GPS, Marvel in their New Universe actually had Starbrand using road maps to find locations in flight.

[dans]

Following an Interstate or a railroad track are two fairly obvious ways of aerial navigation. But you have to know what roads lead to where. A road map seems like a logical choice. The problem with paper maps, of course, is they are difficult to open and read when flying - and also, it's tough to read street signs from a mile in the air...

Getting to Key West from any point along the East Coast, assuming you can fly high enough to see the coastline, shouldn't really be difficult - you fly south following the East Coast until you come to the end of the Florida peninsula and then there is a bridge between islands until you reach the end of the bridge. Might be problematic through storms. But getting to, say, a small town in a big county in the middle of some state you have never visited before, a thousand miles from your starting point, could be rough.

[jonclark]

Jan 19, 2024 8:57:41 GMT dans said:

Following an Interstate or a railroad track are two fairly obvious ways of aerial navigation. But you have to know what roads lead to where. A road map seems like a logical choice. The problem with paper maps, of course, is they are difficult to open and read when flying - and also, it's tough to read street signs from a mile in the air...

Getting to Key West from any point along the East Coast, assuming you can fly high enough to see the coastline, shouldn't really be difficult - you fly south following the East Coast until you come to the end of the Florida peninsula and then there is a bridge between islands until you reach the end of the bridge. Might be problematic through storms. But getting to, say, a small town in a big county in the middle of some state you have never visited before, a thousand miles from your starting point, could be rough.

I guess it depends on whether you have any time to plan at all.  If you can pick a few landmarks and bring a compass you might be able to do it.  

follow highway 95 south and when you see the Washington monument turn left. Use the compass on your wrist to make sure continue going southeast- not south or east but roughly half way between the two ... 

[dans]

agreed. The situation I had in mind was that Carol Clews is awakened from being gassed by a gang of bad guys in Fawcett City (which is close to New York City) and needs to get to Key West Florida before the bad guys get there. But I don't need to actually use Key West, it could just as easily be Atlantic City or Montauk or Block Island or Nantucket. Just someplace an older, reasonably well-off gentleman might retire to. All of those places would be relatively easy to find, even without a map.

I mostly didn't want someone to read the story and say "She's never been there before - how did she get there so fast?"