"Michael" wrote:
What you are seeing are the death throes of an obsolescent technology.
It's
not a pretty picture.

You mean like the taildragger? It's been obsolete for decades, but
10% of my total time is tailwheel time.

Yes. The taildragger also still has certain operational advantages and
nostalgic appeal. But what does it hurt to keep taildraggers around as long
as people want to fly them?

...GPS - too expensive, and with a user interface not
ready for prime time.

That's what I meant by "death throes" and why it isn't pretty. The same
thing could have been said of word processors when they appeared.

Expert practitioners cling to their skills
because, well, they're experts.

No, becaue it's the only way they have to use many airports. Half my
actual approaches are NDB. My enthusiasm for spending a lot of time
and money and reducing the redundancy in my airplane (I would have to
remove either the ADF or LORAN to add an IFR GPS to my panel) is very
low. Thus I'm glad the FAA keeps the NDB approach alive.

In your place I might feel the same.
I kept my ADF when I installed an approach GPS three years ago, but I
haven't used it except, rarely, for practice.

Actually, as a senior engineer at one of Honeywell's big competitors,
I can tell you that it IS a problem. Not the toy quitting, but the
absolute lack of understanding of certain concepts (most obviously
significant figures) in the new crop of engineers who were never
forced to master the slide rule. It's not that you CAN'T teach these
concepts without a slide rule - but with the calculators, you can get
by with not teaching them.

Yes, it is true that practically everything is dumbing down. Technological
advancements often drive this. GPS for pilots is a great example. I'm not
arguing that this is a good thing, only that it is inevitable. Easier wins
every time. Despite the miserable MMI's of certified GPS's, it's still a lot
easier to *fly* a non-precision approach with one than it is with an ADF.
All you've got to do is make track=bearing and you're right down the pipe.

Meanwhile, look at your whizwheel and tell me slide rules are
obsolete.

I don't have a whizwheel. I have an electronic E6B.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM