I am missing the radio gene

[Colonel]

The amazing thing is that the worst radio offenders have
[i]absolutely no clue[/i] that they have a problem.

[b]Longer radio transmissions aren't better radio transmissions[/b].

[img width=393 height=500][/img]

Just fucking say [b]where you are[/b] and [b]what you're going to do[/b].

Is that so hard?  "Five south inbound"

[John Swallow]

“I gotta ask you guys with all the fucking colored glass in the cockpit…”

I would assume that most of us here realize that the “fucking colored glass” just replaced the six-pack and the hand held map?  Anybody have trouble with that concept?

I love the modern gadgets.  In my aircraft, I stayed with analog gauges for engine parameters because I like them, but I installed a Dynon Skyview with synthetic vision.  The co-pilot gets a Garmin 496 to play with.  All of that is backed up with an iPad with Foreflight which can be temporarily mounted using a swing arm.  Using Bluetooth, I can flight plan a route at home on Foreflight and then upload it to Skyview in the cockpit.  En route changes to waypoints not in the Skyview GPS data bank can be effected the same way.  I also carry a cell phone and have SPOT to keep track of my progress.  I’ve even got a poor man’s portable collision avoidance system to keep track of traffic.  Of course, it’s absolutely useless when it comes to aircraft without transponders…

Now, because I have all that stuff, do I fly around with my head in the cockpit?  What a silly assertion!  An asinine one, I might add.  The people that have this stuff are no different from those of you with a paucity of equipment.  We have it because in the experimental world, it’s cheap like borscht.  Not only that, but I can launch out of here tomorrow morning on a cross Canada flight with complete confidence.  Unlike someone with no radio, no navigation equipment, no transponder, an out-of-date chart and no idea what they’re going to do if they pushed off course because it’s hard maintaining situational awareness in bare VFR conditions.  And having to unfold and refold the map to access the next section adding to the confusion and frustration… 

Does less mean more?  Not particularly.  In aviation, it means you’re limited.  Limited in what you can do and where you can go.  I guess if you’re satisfied floating around your little piece of heaven, that’s fine.  But that’s not flying.  If you want to be able to use the aircraft for something more that farting around within twenty miles of the airport on a Sunday afternoon, then you have to have the equipment that will let you do so. 

I’ll take my gadgets, thanks. 

PS  You're right about the atrocious radio work...

[Colonel]

You don't [i]need[/i] all that shit.  You just [i]like[/i] toys to
play with in the cockpit.

In my experience, people with too many toys in
the cockpit spend too much time playing with
them and not enough time flying the airplane
and they're fucking dangerous in the pattern.

In August, I flew a biplane across North America
with an iPhone and a front seat ferry tank. 

[img width=374 height=500][/img]

I've flown to Central America several times to do
airshows with similar cockpit configuration.

[img width=500 height=375][/img]

This is direct across the Gulf of Mexico, which I
might mention is a little bit farther than "20 miles
from home".

My son hates the radio more than I do.  He flew
on my wing across North America, with his radio
turned off almost the entire time.  Heaven.

[img width=500 height=375][/img]

Flagstaff, AZ.  7000 foot elevation, 10,000 foot
density altitude, 13,000 foot mountains in the
background.  An iPhone and a ferry tank and
this thing called [b]I-40[/b] off the left wheel.

[Slick Goodlin]

A phone and some extra gas?  You pussy.  Real men are lost with a face full of radiator!

[Colonel]

I should probably get rid of the phone.  It
scares the shit out of me:

[img width=281 height=500][/img]

[John Swallow]

"In August, I flew a biplane across North America with an iPhone and a front seat ferry tank."

IFRR the whole time...?  (;>0)

PS  I take it you're not using a noise cancelling headset?  Best protect your hearing.  I'm now paying for a lifetime of jets, helicopters, gun fire, and the like.  If you've got tinnitus, you've got damage...   

One of the nice thing about GPS in this part of the country is the ability to pinpoint forest fires to three decimal places. 

I used to have a couple of aircraft that had zip for navaids and a coffee grinder for a radio.  (Narco VTR 2A)  It was interesting flying and map reading low level in challenging weather.  Much prefer the present set up whereby one's attention can be spent looking outside for obstacles with the odd quick look inside to confirm position.  Contrary to opinion, having a panel full of gadgets does not force you to fly on the dials. 


Apropos of nothing:  years ago, Canada's front line fighter, the F-86, used to fly VFR and IFR around Europe with a 12 channel crystal-controlled radio, and an ADF.  Up and down the Iron Curtain with spoof beacons on the other side trying to lure you across.  Two of ours nearly got sucked in...  What we'd have given back then for even a second ADF to provide constant cross bearings...

Oh, well.  The magic is available now and I use it.  If you can afford it and don't have it, there'll come the day...

[Colonel]

[quote]protect your hearing[/quote]

Reminds me of what Jimmy Buffett wrote:

[i]Now he lives in the islands
Fishes the pylons
And drinks his green label each day
He's writing his memoirs
And losing his hearing
But he don't care what most people say[/i]

Toys in the cockpit pose a double-dicked danger:

[b]First[/b]: they distract people from higher-priority tasks
[b]Second[/b]: people become dependent upon them

A couple years back, I was doing some training on
an RV-7A.  Nice airplane.  O-360 w/constant speed
prop.  Had balls.

But it had no steam gauges.  Just a couple of displays
with black frames, forget what they were called.  Don't
care.

One of the co-owners I was checking out told me that
[b]he expected to die if the boxes failed[/b].

My response was unprintable.

I pulled both breakers, and we took off and went flying
with the fancy panels blank.

[b]He didn't think it was possible to fly an airplane by
merely looking outside[/b].

Sometimes, I want to cry.  And, people want to shit
on me for trying to expand their abilities and teaching
them that [b]they don't need all that shit in the cockpit
to fly an airplane[/b].

You know all I want from a GPS?  A fucking arrow to
tell me what direction to fly, and [b]one[/b] numerical
display which tells me how many minutes of fuel I
will have when I get there.  All else is bullshit.

[Colonel]

John: please tell me why a phone (with external power)
is inadequate for navigation of a slow, little airplane.

Enlighten me.  Does it lack processing power?  Storage?
Is the GPU inadequate by your standards?