TomVal
Well Known Member
Warning! A rant to follow:
Flying Without a Magenta Line
It is a cold and rainy day here in southern California…it is a good day to play “Falcon 4.0 Allied Force” and to reminisce….now to rewind the date tape to 1994.
THE PAST:
First of all, to introduce a little background, I will deviate off the “magenta line”. My son, Jeff, an Air Force ROTC graduate and as a freshly minted private pilot, was one of many newly commissioned 2nd Lt’s that were advised that the awarding of their Air Force commission was not predicated on a slot into pilot training. Their only avenue to a coveted slot was to apply annually through the review board for acceptance.
While serving in the Command Post at Offutt, AFB, NE, at the end of year one, Jeff applied for pilot training and was rejected. At the end of year two, he was rejected again. Year three was significant because of his age, this would be his last opportunity to apply.
Now back to the “magenta line” story line. To build up his spirits, I suggested that he join the base aero-club and that I would finance ten hours of flight time. Several months later during a visit, I suggested that we fire up the aero-club Cherokee 140 and go fly a cross country…by my rules.
We decided to plot out a low level, 500 ft AGL, 200 mile cross country. We mapped out our route on the sectional and annotated the nav legs with heading, course, distance, and time information.
The Cherokee had a single VOR and a Loran. The first thing Jeff did after engine start was to turn on the loran. I asked him why did you turn it on? His next comment was that he had never flown with the loran off. I said, “Good, now turn it and the VOR off!”
Our mission was to fly dead-reckoning to Des Moines, IA and back, however, not in a straight line, but through a series of course changes to and fro. Our task was to fly a calculated heading and time to a planned turn point, to correlate what we see outside the window to our sectional chart, to make course and speed corrections as necessary, and to periodically keep the vacuum driven compass updated.
We had an absolute blast. At the end of the day, both dad and son had a precursor to the big “RV” grin on our faces. The experience also gave my son great confidence in his ability to navigate without the use of magic.
Without the Use of Magic:
If it can happen, and if you are in the business long enough, it will happen. Failures can be due to equipment/system malfunction, manmade interference, or by natural atmospheric conditions. Here are some of my experiences over the years:
• Pre-INS days: During overwater navigation, having the LORAN (position information) or Doppler Radar (ground speed and drift information), break lock.
• Remember sextants??? Due to cloud conditions, unable to take a “cel” shot or sun-line.
• Flying the Berlin Corridor: Having the bad guys jam your ADF or VOR’s in an attempt to pull you out of the corridor.
• Flying a brand new B-757 home from Boeing: Having all glass displays going blank due to overheating. Manufacturing debris was discovered in the avionics cooling system, thus clogging the avionics air filters, thus causing the CRT’s to overheat and shut down.
• Having your GPS lose signal due to proximity to military or research operations (check NOTAMS and study your charts).
• Although not NAV system related, I recently experienced an enroute dual cylinder failure due to a failure of my hi-tech, all electronic, FADEC system.
Our Hi-tech All Electronic Systems:
As I read the VAF website, I am filled will joy and envy as I review the first flight posts of our members. What overwhelms me the most is the stunning array of glass instrumentation now available for our cockpits. My purchased RV-8 has some of the first generation glass technology installed. Every time I see a newly posted cockpit photo, I want to tear out all of my stuff and start anew…and this is exactly what DR’s advertiser’s are hoping that we do!
However, as I look at the photos, I see a cockpit configured with dual Garmin G3Xs, to include a Garmin 430, plus an Apple I-pad on the knee board. It kind of makes you wonder:
• Does anyone still look outside?
• Can we still navigate by looking out the window?
• Can we maintain a heading and course without a magenta line?
• Are we prepared to take over manually when the electronics take a dump?
I will assume answers to the questions above are “Yes”! I can say that with confidence because I know that if you are a VAF forum member, you are a highly disciplined aviator, the best of the best…although in my case, with first generation glass installed, my magenta line tends to move about a bit
!
End of rant…however, just in case, please keep that “Magenta Line Inop Checklist” within arm’s reach.
Regards,
P.S. Son was successful in 1998 on the third attempt.
Flying Without a Magenta Line
It is a cold and rainy day here in southern California…it is a good day to play “Falcon 4.0 Allied Force” and to reminisce….now to rewind the date tape to 1994.
THE PAST:
First of all, to introduce a little background, I will deviate off the “magenta line”. My son, Jeff, an Air Force ROTC graduate and as a freshly minted private pilot, was one of many newly commissioned 2nd Lt’s that were advised that the awarding of their Air Force commission was not predicated on a slot into pilot training. Their only avenue to a coveted slot was to apply annually through the review board for acceptance.
While serving in the Command Post at Offutt, AFB, NE, at the end of year one, Jeff applied for pilot training and was rejected. At the end of year two, he was rejected again. Year three was significant because of his age, this would be his last opportunity to apply.
Now back to the “magenta line” story line. To build up his spirits, I suggested that he join the base aero-club and that I would finance ten hours of flight time. Several months later during a visit, I suggested that we fire up the aero-club Cherokee 140 and go fly a cross country…by my rules.
We decided to plot out a low level, 500 ft AGL, 200 mile cross country. We mapped out our route on the sectional and annotated the nav legs with heading, course, distance, and time information.
The Cherokee had a single VOR and a Loran. The first thing Jeff did after engine start was to turn on the loran. I asked him why did you turn it on? His next comment was that he had never flown with the loran off. I said, “Good, now turn it and the VOR off!”
Our mission was to fly dead-reckoning to Des Moines, IA and back, however, not in a straight line, but through a series of course changes to and fro. Our task was to fly a calculated heading and time to a planned turn point, to correlate what we see outside the window to our sectional chart, to make course and speed corrections as necessary, and to periodically keep the vacuum driven compass updated.
We had an absolute blast. At the end of the day, both dad and son had a precursor to the big “RV” grin on our faces. The experience also gave my son great confidence in his ability to navigate without the use of magic.
Without the Use of Magic:
If it can happen, and if you are in the business long enough, it will happen. Failures can be due to equipment/system malfunction, manmade interference, or by natural atmospheric conditions. Here are some of my experiences over the years:
• Pre-INS days: During overwater navigation, having the LORAN (position information) or Doppler Radar (ground speed and drift information), break lock.
• Remember sextants??? Due to cloud conditions, unable to take a “cel” shot or sun-line.
• Flying the Berlin Corridor: Having the bad guys jam your ADF or VOR’s in an attempt to pull you out of the corridor.
• Flying a brand new B-757 home from Boeing: Having all glass displays going blank due to overheating. Manufacturing debris was discovered in the avionics cooling system, thus clogging the avionics air filters, thus causing the CRT’s to overheat and shut down.
• Having your GPS lose signal due to proximity to military or research operations (check NOTAMS and study your charts).
• Although not NAV system related, I recently experienced an enroute dual cylinder failure due to a failure of my hi-tech, all electronic, FADEC system.
Our Hi-tech All Electronic Systems:
As I read the VAF website, I am filled will joy and envy as I review the first flight posts of our members. What overwhelms me the most is the stunning array of glass instrumentation now available for our cockpits. My purchased RV-8 has some of the first generation glass technology installed. Every time I see a newly posted cockpit photo, I want to tear out all of my stuff and start anew…and this is exactly what DR’s advertiser’s are hoping that we do!
However, as I look at the photos, I see a cockpit configured with dual Garmin G3Xs, to include a Garmin 430, plus an Apple I-pad on the knee board. It kind of makes you wonder:
• Does anyone still look outside?
• Can we still navigate by looking out the window?
• Can we maintain a heading and course without a magenta line?
• Are we prepared to take over manually when the electronics take a dump?
I will assume answers to the questions above are “Yes”! I can say that with confidence because I know that if you are a VAF forum member, you are a highly disciplined aviator, the best of the best…although in my case, with first generation glass installed, my magenta line tends to move about a bit
!End of rant…however, just in case, please keep that “Magenta Line Inop Checklist” within arm’s reach.
Regards,
P.S. Son was successful in 1998 on the third attempt.
Last edited:
