Electronic flight computers.

[David MacRay]

I lifted this quote from another thread. I am loving a new toy and I was reluctant to switch before. It just works so well I couldn't resist.

[quote author=Slick Goodlin link=topic=8901.msg24495#msg24495 date=1535472683]
[quote author=Eric Janson link=topic=8901.msg24490#msg24490 date=1535441186]
Just downloaded a G1000 user guide.
I wish I had a fraction of the capability of this system in my large 4-engine aircraft
[/quote]
Garmin's current lineup blows my mind with what it can do.  I know deep down that they will eventually make something better but I can't begin to imagine what that could even be.
[/quote]

I am not opposed to technology. I just enjoy simple things.

I think if you learn to do it the hard way you can better understand what the magic box is doing for you. If someone completely relies on electronic devices and thinks they are helpless without them they are probably right.

I finally played with an ASA CX-3 at Calgary Pilot supplies a few weeks ago. Right away without a manual, I started doing things I have forgotten how to do on an actual E6-B. I bought it right away. You can probably get an app but I have trouble hitting the right spot on these touch screens on the couch. I don't think I can do it in a bouncy airplane.

I'll keep the old wiz wheel on board but probably won't be able to do much with it. Even though I'd like to practice using it I probably won't.

[Slick Goodlin]

I too enjoy simple things and if you really want to do something neat learn to do the E6B stuff in your head so you can toss the whiz wheel entirely.  Working to 'good enough' tolerances you can mostly break it down to math easy enough to do on your fingers.

[Colonel]

One of the most important skills a pilot learns, is estimation.


You should have some kind of idea what direction, distance,
speed and time that a trip is going to take so if for example,
the stupid fucking computer wants you to go NORTH for 2 hours,
and you know your destination is an hour EAST, alarms bells
go off in your head and you look closer for finger error or bad
data.

[David MacRay]

I have an uncle that could multiply really big numbers in his head it was a pretty good trick. That was part of what made me realize using a regular E6-B would be possible. I was getting fairly good at out running calculators with it a few decades ago, but like everything if you don't do it enough you start to lose the skill. It's possible I can get back to using the manual one but unlikely.

[Eric Janson]

My company uses iPads and a blu-tooth printer.
We can do Weight and Balance and Performance Calculations using the airbus Flysmart Apps. We are frequently operating in remote locations with minimal support so we need to be able to do everything ourselves.

These are complex programs but clever people have made them intuitive and very easy to use.
We also have Jeppesen FD Pro on the iPads and I have a personal copy. With a Blu- tooth GPS I have a moving map display. I can even display aircraft position on the approach plate. Accuracy is normally 10m but I've seen it at 5m.

I can also export our flightplan from my iPad into the company iPads.
You do need to be careful though - garbage in = garbage out.
I had a case where I had to recompute Performance and something was wrong with the revised calculation. Only after a close look did I see that the revised calculation had been made for Maximum Take-Off weight and not for our actual weight. That's actually a good safety feature that the program defaults to Maximum Weight.

[David MacRay]

I probably will always think, "What if the screens go blank?" but the iPad has proven reliability.

Electronic devices in the 1980s were scetchy.

[Slick Goodlin]

[quote author=David MacRay link=topic=8944.msg24503#msg24503 date=1535502109]
I was getting fairly good at out running calculators with it a few decades ago, but like everything if you don't do it enough you start to lose the skill.
[/quote]
Since we’re talking about doing the math on the fly on our fingers, I’ll assume this is more of a diversion exercise so an hour cruise or less and definitely VFR at least to start.  You will need:


Map
Pencil
Brain
Fingers


Figure out where you are, mark it on the map with an X.  Figure out where you want to go, another X goes there.  Zing a mostly straight line between them.  Mark the half way point, then half of those halves if it’s pretty far.  Pro tip: if you suck at estimating half, just fold the map so your start and end points touch and pinch a crease to mark exactly between the two.  We’ll do distance/time/fuel later.


Get yourself on course.  Have an idea of the loose cardinal point you want to be aimed for but really just point the plane whatever direction it needs to be in order to fly over the first notable thing on your track line.  There’s your heading corrected for wind, sans math.  Note the time.


Now that you’re on course, measure the track length using the thumb-and-pencil thing and scribble it somewhere. Time is 1:1 for a Cub, ultralight, or similar (40 miles = 40 minutes = 60mph), decimal hours for a light Cessna or Cherokee (40 miles = .4 hours = 100mph), a traditional single with retracts is 1/2 (40 miles = 20 minutes = 120mph) for a trip of an hour or less this should be accurate within five or ten minutes which is close enough.  As an amateur, if an error of ten minutes in planning kills you there is something fundamentally wrong with your priorities.


Ballpark the crap out of fuel too.  We’re talking about enjoying a sunny Saturday over/near civilization, not a fuel critical emergency diversion over the South Pole here.

[cgzro]

[quote]
You should have some kind of idea what direction, distance,
speed and time that a trip is going to take so if for example,
the stupid fucking computer wants you to go NORTH for 2 hours,
and you know your destination is an hour EAST, alarms bells
go off in your head and you look closer for finger error or bad
data.
[/quote]


I had an interesting experience with bad waypoint data in a Garmin GPS. The lat/lon of the waypoint was a good 50 miles south of where it was supposed to be, so this is good advice .. be paranoid.

[Slick Goodlin]

[quote author=cgzro link=topic=8944.msg24525#msg24525 date=1535682981]
I had an interesting experience with bad waypoint data in a Garmin GPS. The lat/lon of the waypoint was a good 50 miles south of where it was supposed to be, so this is good advice .. be paranoid.
[/quote]
Or good old fashioned finger trouble has you punch in one wrong letter in the identifier.  Had a coworker once fly 300 miles the wrong way on a charter over that.


Come to think of it, I was also #2 in a NORDO formation flight out to a little grass roots fly in when the lead put in the wrong waypoint.  Imagine following someone you know is lost but can’t communicate that to him...

[Colonel]

[quote]a coworker once fly 300 miles the wrong way[/quote]

A friend (ok, he's a little hard of hearing) of mine once flew a T-33
to [i]Torbay[/i], NL instead of [i]Gore Bay[/i], ON.