The extinct job

If you been long, working as a cabin crew, then you may have noticed the gradual changes in the aircraft itself. I remember in the early 1970s, the trip from Malaysia to London had to do two stops, in Kuwait and Frankfurt. Those days the airline was using B707 and its four JT3D engines. If you were flying, then certainly you remember, the 3 man crews in the cockpit. You have a third crew, who was a flight engineer.

Why do we need a flight engineer, who is gone with the extinct job. The answer relies on the technology. The technology of the 50's and 60's were not advance enough to automated the functions required for the aircraft. Let us look at some of the examples, the navigations were primarily dependent on radio navigation, the ADF and VoR. No satellite navigation, no INS, nothing. When you fly over the poles, then you have problem, as you compass did not work.So what is the backup?? Please dont laugh, they have to do star and sun sightings, and the aircraft carried that epuipment, the old sextant. ... to contine