"Maule Driver" wrote in message
. com...
What Jay said.

What Jay said is just a demonstration of how inappropriate use of GPS
navigation is creating pilots who don't have a clue of where they actually
are relative to the world.

The fact that you are using a GPS to get from Point A to Point B is no
justification for not knowing what is between Point A and Point B, or in the
general vicinity of Point A and Point B.

If there is a VOR close enough to an airport to be usable as a reference for
traffic reports, then any pilot operating at or near that airport has an
obligation to be aware of the VOR and its position, whether or not they are
using the VOR for navigation.

rant on
I realize that it's human nature, and perhaps even a bit fashionable, to be
clueless with respect to your surroundings. Not just in aviation, but in
all aspects of life, people seem to want to forget that they are a part of a
living, breathing world. They want to abstract their existence as much as
possible, and forget about reality. But every time they do so, they
sacrifice true awareness and an ability to interact with reality, because
they are ignoring reality. Unfortunately for those people, reality doesn't
care about abstractions; it exists, regardless of whether you pay attention
to it or not. If you fail to pay attention to it, you will pay the price.
/rant

Pete