Compass turns revisited

I agree. It also reinforces the direction in which you should be turning
and about how far when your in a panic and lose situational awareness. When
my CFII pointed out this technique, it was a godsend. I can do the math and
was pretty good with timed turns, but it was a nice tool to double check and
speed the process.

Bob


"John Clonts" wrote in message
...

"David Cartwright" wrote in message
...
"Michael" wrote in message
oups.com...
Some students just don't get math. For them, the mental math required
to figure out how many seconds the turn needs to be is too much to do
while flying under the hood. For others, the jumping around, lead, and
lag of the compass is too difficult to deal with - they prefer to time
the turn, the check the compass only in level flight.

For some reason, despite two 'A' levels in maths, I have brain failure
with my three times table when trying to figure out timed turns. So long
as I take a few seconds to double-check your multiplication, though, and
I sanity check it (e.g. if you're turning 120 degrees it should take less
than a minute, not more) it's not a problem.


I think its easier just to do it on the dg (or even an obs if your dg has
failed and is covered up)-- as Gardner said, count 10 seconds per
"numbered" heading, even if it means putting your finger physically on the
numbers as you count from your current heading to your desired heading...

Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ

Well, there is the small problem of flying an approach with no primary
instruments. While not specifically demonstrating either method, one
presumably has to have a way fo navigating without reference to a
directional gyro.

But you raise an interesting question. If equipped with GPS, can it
acceptably be used in lieu of a compass? I see no reason why not.


On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:45:09 -0700, "Bob Gardner"
wrote:

Got a little memory jog in the April 2006 Designee Update...other than
"Basic Instrument Flight Maneuvers," there is nothing in the 2004 (latest)
PTS about timed turns OR compass turns. Nothing. Nada. So instrument pilot
wannabes need not be concerned about demonstrating either one to the
examiner. The examiner has some degree of latitude in deciding just what a
"basic instrument flight maneuver" is...but no one is going to get a pink
slip with "Timed turns to headings" on it.

Bob Gardner