Technology is Incredible...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
Those days are long gone, thanks to moving-map GPS. (Well, and 1500
hours of experience.)

I think LORAN did a pretty good number on it even before your moving map GPS
came along... Even if you don't have a graphical depiction of your area on
your navigation device, just being able to plug in an airport's identifier
and knowing it's bearing and distance (no matter how much you got distracted
by checking out the things on the ground) did a lot to take a lot of the
effort out of navigating... Yeah, I've done my share of paper maps and
mapping my position in relation to VORs, but I've learned to enjoy having my
LORAN and letting it tell me how far I am from the various airports, VORs,
waypoints, etc... Combining that with a handheld GPS or moving map on a
laptop and for my flying, it's plenty of redundacy... Well, that plus my
probably out of date paper maps... grin

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Have you ever even seen a real aircraft up close? Jets are loud.

And since you're closer to the engines, small jets are even louder...

On 2006-10-31, Mxsmanic wrote:
Dylan Smith writes:

Turn on the backup handheld unit?

Are there handhelds certified for aviation use?

That's completely irrelevant. There are no eyeballs certified for
aviation use either, but that doesn't mean it's illegal to look out the
window to navigate. You can use a motorist's GPS loaded with Rand
McNally road atlas data for VFR navigation if you want, and no one will
care.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

On 2006-11-01, Mxsmanic wrote:
Is it difficult to read charts and fly? Somehow I find it hard to
picture flying the aircraft and spreading a chart out on the
right-hand seat and trying to read it.

Charts are made out of this really neat bendy stuff called paper. This
invention allows you to fold them into a shape where they fit on your
lap.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

I think LORAN did a pretty good number on it even before your moving map GPS
came along...

Yep, Loran was the first "great leap forward". The plane I learned
to fly in had a Flybuddy Loran, and it was always a comfort knowing it
was there to double check my position, if needed.

But it was still nothing but a fancy "pointer". Moving map GPS
changed everything about situational awareness, IMHO.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Gig 601XL Builder writes:

Have you ever even seen a real aircraft up close? Jets are loud.

I've been a passenger in large jets often enough, and I don't find
them particularly loud, although they are louder than I'd prefer.

Propeller-driven aircraft tend to be a lot more noisy for passengers.
In fact, as I recall, NASA's experiments with propellers for
high-speed aircraft were hampered by the fact that the props are so
incredibly loud that they wouldn't be practical in real aviation.

--

Yes propellers make noise. But I tell you what. Next time you are in the
states you are more than welcome to come to my hanger which is about 100
yards away from the hanger of Murphy Oil Corp. They have a few Citation biz
jets and a Falcon jet.

There will be several prop airplanes around as well. You can stand there and
tell me which you think is louder.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
I think LORAN did a pretty good number on it even before your moving map
GPS
came along...

Yep, Loran was the first "great leap forward". The plane I learned
to fly in had a Flybuddy Loran, and it was always a comfort knowing it
was there to double check my position, if needed.

But it was still nothing but a fancy "pointer". Moving map GPS
changed everything about situational awareness, IMHO.
--

I all but missed the use of Lorans. When I started flying (late 70s through
early 80s)they just weren't installed in the GA fleet. At least the fleet I
was flying. In 95 when I got my Helicopter rating in an R22 there was a
Loran as the only nav aid. I figured it out pretty quick though it was a
pain to set up while flying. The only time I really used it was on my solo
x-c and the practice was set it for the first airport, fly there do my three
landings at that towered airport, land over at the edge of the runway set
the next airport, fly and repeat for the homeward flight.

The main thing I noticed was the lack of a CDI I would have preferred a
Nav/Com at the time. A nice uncertified 496 would have been great.

It didn't take days to plan - indeed, planning took about as long as
reviewing the charts and drawing a line

Okay, so maybe "days" was a bit of an exaggeration. However, for my
first "real" cross-country flight ("all the way" from Wisconsin to
Missouri in a rental Cherokee 140, back in '95, for our tenth wedding
anniversary) I do recall having all the charts out on the dining room
table for days before the flight, studying them for best routing, and
looking for good, identifiable landmarks. VORs were, for me, entirely
secondary to pilotage in getting to Branson -- I wanted uniquely-shaped
lakes and rivers!

As for the navigation being "part of the fun", I guess I got over that
a long time ago. Now, I just want to enjoy the flight as safely as
possible, and get there expeditiously. For us, that means GPS direct.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

VORs were, for me, entirely
secondary to pilotage in getting to Branson -- I wanted uniquely-shaped
lakes and rivers!

I still do. The fun of VFR flying, especially low level cross country
flying, is visual navigation. The damned GPS takes all the fun out of
it.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jay Honeck writes:

Yep, Loran was the first "great leap forward". The plane I learned
to fly in had a Flybuddy Loran, and it was always a comfort knowing it
was there to double check my position, if needed.

But it was still nothing but a fancy "pointer". Moving map GPS
changed everything about situational awareness, IMHO.

The same could theoretically be done with LORAN.

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