Why does it have to be one way or the other? Yes. These new gismos are very useful and they help a pilot manage the workload and allow more time to consider options. But, if you can’t navigate without them, you are more of a button pusher and less of a pilot. What happens when the batteries die?

You also need to be able to reason out whether the device is accurately processing the info correctly. Get the settings wrong and the information will be wrong. Most of these flight computers will tell you that you have a glide to somewhere without factoring in the terrain. I try to develop my own rules-of-thumb for making decisions. I always have a paper chart in the glider and I know how to read it.

Enjoy your cross country adventures. Learn all you can from other pilots. Develop your own philosophy for making decisions. Get a GPS and learn how to use it but don’t depend on it to tell you what to do.

Steve Rathbun -R5