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  #21  
Old 11-02-2011, 06:49 PM
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N941WR N941WR is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SC
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Years ago I had to deliver my '41 T-craft to its new owner in Hampton Roads, VA. That was something like a six hour flight from Charlotte with nothing but a wet compass and a watch.

For redundancy I brought a friend was a naviguesser on B1's. The minute we lifted off his head went down into the sectionals. The only time he looked up was to verify we were on course. He would say things like, ?There should be a 600 foot tower at your three o?clock in five, four, three, two, one seconds.? Then he would look up, tap the wildly swinging whiskey with his pencil and admonish me with, ?I said zero niner six, not zero niner seven, not zero niner five!?

It was a great flight and we had a fantastic time.
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  #22  
Old 11-02-2011, 08:13 PM
RV7ator RV7ator is offline
 
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Location: Boise, ID
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We'd all be living under Sauron's thumb if Bilbo and Frodo had iPads and GPS instead of maps and knowledgeable guides!

We'll, I do like GPS...but there isn't anything better than a road map for a long distance cross country planner. I do carry them if I'm crossing many sectionals or even a few WACs. You can see end-to-end for basic routing that isn't possible with a tiny screen, nor must you become a floor covering specialist engaging bedsheet sized charts edge-to-edge to get the big picture.

John Siebold
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  #23  
Old 11-02-2011, 09:29 PM
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Jimboscr Jimboscr is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Adelaide South Australia, Australia
Posts: 193
Default IFR

I follow railway. Going north from here up to Darwin you can follow the (Note singular) rail line. However fly on the right side of because aircraft coming the other way use it too.

Roads can be another matter. Once you get into the dryer areas the roads on individual cattle stations can be problematic, because every farmer has a grader attachment for the tractor and pops in a new track whenever he feels like it!

For the Canadians, we still have grain silos. Can be of great help, they don't have names on them but when you?re flying over country as "flat as a tack" their tallness and whiteness really stand out.

Cheers

Jim
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  #24  
Old 11-03-2011, 04:08 AM
bignose bignose is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Sao Paulo, Brasil
Posts: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by N941WR View Post
Years ago I had to deliver my '41 T-craft to its new owner in Hampton Roads, VA. That was something like a six hour flight from Charlotte with nothing but a wet compass and a watch.

For redundancy I brought a friend was a naviguesser on B1's. The minute we lifted off his head went down into the sectionals. The only time he looked up was to verify we were on course. He would say things like, “There should be a 600 foot tower at your three o’clock in five, four, three, two, one seconds.” Then he would look up, tap the wildly swinging whiskey with his pencil and admonish me with, “I said zero niner six, not zero niner seven, not zero niner five!”

It was a great flight and we had a fantastic time.
Wonder how Charles Lindbergh found his way to Paris flying alone, at night, over water, low overcast, no attitude indicator and no front view ( Spirit of St. Louis had no windshield, he used a PERISCOPE to land in France)... Just the basics: Airspeed, Altimeter, Oil Pressure and Temp, wet compass and watch. And LOTS OF INSTINCT! He knew he had to go NE more or less...
Autopilot ??? Liters of coffee to stay awake !!!

Last edited by bignose : 11-03-2011 at 04:15 AM.
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  #25  
Old 11-03-2011, 04:48 AM
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pierre smith pierre smith is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Louisville, Ga
Posts: 7,840
Default The sun!

One afternoon, I had a freshman ag pilot here once and I told him where a certain field was. I then said to go west about a mile and he'd see a cotton field with a burned up tractor in it, after he sprayed the first field.

His remark, "The d**n compass doesn't work!"...Me, "Duh, where does the sun set?"

Best,
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  #26  
Old 11-03-2011, 10:11 AM
Mile High Relic Mile High Relic is offline
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Denver area
Posts: 272
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparky View Post
I learned to fly in central Minnesota. It's almost impossible to get lost if you've got a sectional or a road map... just check the shapes of the lakes around you.
The other nice thing about the midwest, including much of MN, is the nice grid lines they have placed on the ground. You can often tell how far it is to a town or other landmark just by counting the number of roads. There are a lot of squares, and with square mile plots (640 acres), 5 roads equals 5 miles.
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  #27  
Old 11-03-2011, 11:31 AM
gasman gasman is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Sonoma County
Posts: 3,821
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy1963 View Post
Even out here, where airports can be few and far between...my biggest problem 'following the line' on a sectional is that by the time I see a landmark, find it on the cluttered mess of a sectional, and read the elevation of a tower or airfield....I'm over it! ( dang 150 kt. RV!) Cr@p...I also need to lose 4000' - ---now!
My brain & finger that used to operate just fine..... at C152 speeds..... now barely keeps up at J-3 speeds. ( perhaps there's an LSA in my future eh?)
Yes, this is my biggest gripe. The needed info is covered up with useless junk! Terrain lines are useless and add to the clutter. Three VOR's in the SF bay area lap over each other to the point that they are useless. Can we do better with less information printed on our sectionals................
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  #28  
Old 11-03-2011, 12:22 PM
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DanBaier DanBaier is offline
 
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Location: Rochester NY
Posts: 669
Default The GPS of its day

Quote:
Originally Posted by bignose View Post
Wonder how Charles Lindbergh found his way to Paris flying alone, at night, over water, low overcast, no attitude indicator and no front view
Pioneer earth inductor compass.

Dan
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  #29  
Old 11-03-2011, 01:48 PM
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Cadstat Cadstat is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Greeley, Colorado
Posts: 199
Default Water towers

Lost over Kentucky, before GPS, on my longest x-c to date and I see lots of writing on a water tower. Thinking I'm saved, I drop down to read, 'Eastern Kentucky University.' I didn't know where the heck that was but I called some pilots I heard talking and they knew where I was.
I had to scud run for home on the return of that same trip following the railroad tracks. My CFI told me there are never towers in the middle the train tracks but that's not true of the interstate hiways. If you have a choice, take the train!
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  #30  
Old 11-03-2011, 04:24 PM
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Greg Arehart Greg Arehart is offline
 
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Location: Delta, CO/Atlin, BC
Posts: 2,391
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gasman View Post
Can we do better with less information printed on our sectionals................
Try a WAC chart.

greg
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