Why don't voice radio communications use FM?

Mxsmanic,

Your comments show utter cluelessness about instrument flying, I'm afraid.
It would help you if you understood how little you know about IFR flying.

But isn't it simply a matter of looking at the instruments and doing
what they say? Surely a person should be able to override distracting
sensations and trust the instruments, especially when he knows that
they are reliable.

"Knowing" is not all a human reacts to. "Surely" persons are NOT able to
override those sensations without ample training. This fundamental
difference between simulation and the real thing has been pointed out to
you many times before in this thread. So far, you chose to ignore that.

You just have to learn to ignore the sensation through sheer mental
willpower.

And you say that there's a lot of variation in this? Does it actually
prevent some people from becoming pilots? It seems straightforward,
even if it requires willpower.

Go try it.

Which other instruments will tell you this?

Turn and bank indicator, DG, compass.

But doesn't the compass drift as well?

No. Why would it?

So you are expected to trust instruments, but then not to trust them?

You're expected to corroborate one instrument's indications against the
others.


If two different instruments indicate two different things, how do you
know which one to trust? There isn't always a third instrument to
break the tie.

Yes, there is. Read a book on instrument flying.

I suppose I could deduce that I don't have the wings
level from a turn indicator or my changing heading, but how do I know
that it's not the heading that is changing inappropriately, or the
turn indicator that's broken?

Understand failure modes - and then it will all be easy.

I don't think instrument flight would pose a problem for me.

Your hubris is simply amazing! All that you have written before this
sentence shows a total lack of the essentials of instrument flight!

Have you really come here to learn something or just to annoy others by
showing your ignorance? How old are you?


--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert writes:

No. Why would it?

Because of the way a compass is mounted, it will briefly tend to
continue moving after a turn.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic,

Because of the way a compass is mounted, it will briefly tend to
continue moving after a turn.


Yes. So?

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert writes:

Yes. So?

So the compass cannot always be trusted.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic,

So the compass cannot always be trusted.


Yes, it can. Compass turning error is well-defined - any pilot
understands it and takes it into account.

Again and again: Why can't you acknowlegde that there are things you
don't know anything about? Just shut your mouth and learn instead of
coming back with smart*ss comments over and over again.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:48:35 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Thomas Borchert writes:

Yes. So?

So the compass cannot always be trusted.

The *only* time a compass can almost be trusted is in straight, level,
and un-accelerated flight. We make turns based on the TC and a watch
not the compass. OTOH you don't have to worry about it precessing like
the DG. I can roll into a CW turn and watch the compass show a CCW
turn. I can accelerate on one direction and it'll show a left turn.
Accelerate in a different direction and have it show a right turn. Of
course decelerating will show turns opposite of accelerating.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:48:35 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Thomas Borchert writes:

Yes. So?
So the compass cannot always be trusted.

The *only* time a compass can almost be trusted is in straight, level,
and un-accelerated flight.

But the errors are predictable. I've seen a DG slowly wind down to
nothing and then completely fail, and I flew the plane just fine with
just the compass.

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:13:57 -0500, Emily
wrote:

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:48:35 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Thomas Borchert writes:

Yes. So?
So the compass cannot always be trusted.

The *only* time a compass can almost be trusted is in straight, level,
and un-accelerated flight.

But the errors are predictable. I've seen a DG slowly wind down to
nothing and then completely fail, and I flew the plane just fine with
just the compass.

I think I may have phrased that poorly.
Let me try again? :-))

The compass tells you the truth "only" when in straight, level, and
un-accelerated flight IF outside influences are taken into account.
Those outside influences are normally predictable, but sometimes sneak
up on the unwary. In addition to magnetic variation some aircraft
develop some magnetic fields (portions of the airframe may become
magnetized) and require degaussing. Adding new equipment can sometimes
require "re-swinging" the compass. I have to be careful where I put
the Garmin GPS. It works fine on the yoke, but will swing the compass
about 60 degrees on when on the glare shield.

Around here the magnetic compass is only 6 degrees off which is close
enough. However there are areas in the lower 48 where I think you can
find close to 20 degrees. Now that is enough to notice even on a short
trip.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Roger (K8RI) wrote:

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:48:35 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:


Thomas Borchert writes:


Yes. So?

So the compass cannot always be trusted.


The *only* time a compass can almost be trusted is in straight, level,
and un-accelerated flight. We make turns based on the TC and a watch
not the compass. OTOH you don't have to worry about it precessing like
the DG. I can roll into a CW turn and watch the compass show a CCW
turn. I can accelerate on one direction and it'll show a left turn.
Accelerate in a different direction and have it show a right turn. Of
course decelerating will show turns opposite of accelerating.

It is still trustworthey as it does the same thing in the same
conditions every time. That is most people's definition of something
you can trust. The acceleration and turn errors are known and
predictable, what is there not to trust? The only thing that makes a
compass not trustworthey is an unknown magnetic field that may have been
brought into the airplane.

If you didn't learn to understand and compensate for the characteristics
of the standard aviation compass during your flight training, then it is
your instruction that was not trustworthey! :-)

Matt

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 01:27:58 GMT, Matt Whiting
wrote in :

The only thing that makes a
compass not trustworthey is an unknown magnetic field that may have been
brought into the airplane.

Of course, there's also electromagnetism...