Have you ever...

After I got tired of that and removed the hood, I asked "so, where are
we".
He laughed and told me that I was supposed to figure it out. So I did.

This seems rather useful to me. Why eliminate it?

You figured out your position using VORs? What decade was this? ;-)

Can I do that? Sure. Can I name the last time I needed to know that?
Nope. Can I even name the last time I did it? Nope.

If, in ten years and nearly 1000 hours of flying, I've never needed to
figure out my position by looking at the face of my VOR, as if I'd suddenly
awakened in my plane and didn't have a clue where I was, what the hell is it
doing on the written exam for Private Pilot? Who in the world uses VORs
for daily flight anymore?

I know, a lot of you guys do. Despite the fact that you've probably got a
Garmin/Lowrance/AvMap on your yoke that is 500 - 1000 times more accurate
and intuitive than your old 1953 Narco 12, you feel compelled to "follow the
needle" cuz that's what you're used to doing. Have fun, but don't fool
yourself into believing that this is a necessary or common way of flying
anymore. It *can* be eliminated from the Private Pilot curriculum, right
along with ADFs.

Which isn't to say that tracking a VOR isn't kind of fun, and (for those of
us at the bottom of the aviation food chain) still necessary for IFR flight.
But for regular, VFR navigation, VORs have pretty much outlived their
usefulness.

Oh, well. Keep VOR questions on the written exam for Instrument Pilot, for
the moment. In five more years everything will be GPS based, and
interpreting a VOR will be like knowing how to gauge your position by
listening to two tones in your headset.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:48:47 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote in
PGA7e.14356$xL4.13659@attbi_s72::

If, in ten years and nearly 1000 hours of flying, I've never needed to
figure out my position by looking at the face of my VOR, as if I'd suddenly
awakened in my plane and didn't have a clue where I was, what the hell is it
doing on the written exam for Private Pilot?

Suppose you are navigating solely by GPS. What are you going to do in
the event the military chooses to disable the GPS system while you're
airborne (or a solar storm renders GPS unusable) and you find yourself
above an undercast? If the aircraft isn't equipped with ADF, and you
haven't been trained to use VOR navigation, you'd have to request a DF
steer from FSS, or if you're located in an area of ATC radar coverage,
vectors.

Suppose you are navigating solely by GPS. What are you going to do in
the event the military chooses to disable the GPS system while you're
airborne (or a solar storm renders GPS unusable) and you find yourself
above an undercast? If the aircraft isn't equipped with ADF, and you
haven't been trained to use VOR navigation, you'd have to request a DF
steer from FSS, or if you're located in an area of ATC radar coverage,
vectors.

And if the sun suddenly went supernova, I'd be in big trouble, too.

Why do I suspect that the old A/N radio range pilots were saying the same
thing back in the '50s, when the Feds started decommissioning them?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:30:40 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote in AzG7e.15718$Bb3.2289@attbi_s22::


And if the sun suddenly went supernova, I'd be in big trouble, too.

What you suggest isn't likely to occur in our time. What I suggested
has occurred recently and is likely to occur again.

Larry,

What I suggested
has occurred recently and is likely to occur again.


When was the last widespread GPS outage (when was the first, for that
matter?)? Except local outages announced per NOTAM, since those don't
really count.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

When was the last widespread GPS outage (when was the first, for that
matter?)? Except local outages announced per NOTAM, since those don't
really count.

I've been flying with GPS since ~1997, and I've not seen/heard of one.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:10:37 +0200, Thomas Borchert
wrote in
::

Larry,

What I suggested
has occurred recently and is likely to occur again.


When was the last widespread GPS outage (when was the first, for that
matter?)?

For a GPS outage to be significant to an airman, it needn't be wide
spread.

There is some information at these links:
http://www.aerorfi.org/forum/read.php?f=1&i=115&t=115
http://www.schriever.af.mil/GpsSuppo...advisories.htm
http://www.sel.noaa.gov/nav/gps.html
http://www.schriever.af.mil/GpsSuppo...23_Anomaly.htm
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/archive/2...eport-v4.6.pdf

Except local outages announced per NOTAM, since those don't
really count.

Suppose you are navigating solely by GPS. What are you going to do in
the event the military chooses to disable the GPS system while you're
airborne

Can't be done. There is no on/off switch.

"Newps" wrote in message
...


Suppose you are navigating solely by GPS. What are you going to do in
the event the military chooses to disable the GPS system while you're
airborne

Can't be done. There is no on/off switch.


While I am quite sure there is a a way they could turn it off if they
decided to they certainly could make it incorrect without the proper
decryption hard/software that the GPS in your plane will think it is flying
over JFK when you are in LAX.

"Newps" wrote in message
...


Suppose you are navigating solely by GPS. What are you going to do in
the event the military chooses to disable the GPS system while you're
airborne

Can't be done. There is no on/off switch.


Meb'be one of them terrorists with a 50cal rifle will shoot them all down!!!