Not a problem. If we don't occasionally scare the piss out of ourselves, we tend to think we're God's Gift to Aviation!
I don't know. The more I fly, the more I realize I really don't know, have forgotten or umm, what was I talking about?
Lost Pilot Sends Text MSG for Help!?!
- Thread starter chris
- Start date
Not a problem. If we don't occasionally scare the piss out of ourselves, we tend to think we're God's Gift to Aviation!
I don't know. The more I fly, the more I realize I really don't know, have forgotten or umm, what was I talking about?
Wolfy
Well-Known Member
I don't know if you're serious. To elaborate: It came to a point where I didn't know exactly where I was on the map, but had a good idea. I was heading east, and decided to change course to go further north. This way, I knew for sure I'd hit I-5 on the north side of Red Bluff and could just go south until I saw it, and land.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
On my long solo XC as a student pilot I flew SQL-MCE-MER-SQL. I don't want to be part of the magenta line crowd, so during my days as a student pilot I always tried to just use the GPS as a backup. Well today, I find out the GPS kept freezing even after being restarted a few times, but not written up yet. Not wanting to have to be a pansy and get another airplane which I knew they would make me do, I just placarded it myself, pulled the breaker and went on my way. Somewhere between TCY and MCE, I began to have a "...huh?" moment. Being the idiot I am, I used windmills as a checkpoint. Those from the Bay Area will know the LVK/TCY area has probably a good 100 windmills spread out over miles. So obviously I had no idea which damn set of windmills I should have been flying over. No problem, I'll just glance at the GPS to double check...wait...ZOMGZ ITS BLACKED OUT! I got pretty worried for a second and was thinking about getting flight following and asking for a vector swallowing my pride when I thought to myself, "I don't need that damn GPS, I'll just find my way." I went on "lost" for a couple minutes but knew I was in the general right direction, and then I finally found my next checkpoint, Crows Landing, right in front of me.
I learned that even though I was taught to do so, I really didn't need the GPS as a crutch. Just stick to the headings you wrote down and you'll be fine, and if you drift off course, just try and find your next landmark. Now when I got back and they found out the GPS was INOP, I got to listen to a "ZOMGZ you're an accident waiting to happen" speech. But I learned something.
I learned that even though I was taught to do so, I really didn't need the GPS as a crutch. Just stick to the headings you wrote down and you'll be fine, and if you drift off course, just try and find your next landmark. Now when I got back and they found out the GPS was INOP, I got to listen to a "ZOMGZ you're an accident waiting to happen" speech. But I learned something.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I'm telling on all of you! /SARCASM
Here is what I taught my students when it came to cross country nav.
Start with dead reckoning (heading/distance), check that with pilotage (looking outside to see if the town you're supposed to overfly is actually there), then double check with radio nav/gps.
In a training environment I'd make sure they were proficient at each one by itself, but on a real cross country use it all.
Here is what I taught my students when it came to cross country nav.
Start with dead reckoning (heading/distance), check that with pilotage (looking outside to see if the town you're supposed to overfly is actually there), then double check with radio nav/gps.
In a training environment I'd make sure they were proficient at each one by itself, but on a real cross country use it all.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Two quick ones....
1) My CFI got annoyed with me once on our first night XC. We take off, and I set up on course. He starts asking me about landmarks and stuff. I tell him, "I know we're on course, I can tell perfectly." He asks, "How?" And I point out the front and say, "Because I can see the beacon at DTO from here."
It was 60 mi away, on a very clear night. You can do things like that in TX.
irate:
2) I've told this story before, but for the first few months I had my license, I got lost just about every time I went up. I got used to it, frankly, and it forced me to stay calm, figure out where I was, and then pick a direction. Strangely, the thing that gave me the most confidence was the clock. As long as I had enough gas in the airplane, I was content to be patient and figure things out.
1) My CFI got annoyed with me once on our first night XC. We take off, and I set up on course. He starts asking me about landmarks and stuff. I tell him, "I know we're on course, I can tell perfectly." He asks, "How?" And I point out the front and say, "Because I can see the beacon at DTO from here."
It was 60 mi away, on a very clear night. You can do things like that in TX.
irate:2) I've told this story before, but for the first few months I had my license, I got lost just about every time I went up. I got used to it, frankly, and it forced me to stay calm, figure out where I was, and then pick a direction. Strangely, the thing that gave me the most confidence was the clock. As long as I had enough gas in the airplane, I was content to be patient and figure things out.
TheresaPilot
Well-Known Member
inigo88
Composite-lover
I understood perfectly. Just should have used the sarcasm tag.
Screaming_Emu said:
Just make sure it's in the form of a formal letter to our respective employers. "Omgz so and so admitted they once made a mistake in an airplane as a student pilot, and learned from it. They're DANGEROUS!!!"
Edit: In all seriousness that's really good advice. This was a couple of years ago now, but had I relied on dead reckoning as my primary means of navigation and verified with pilotage my story would have turned out much more uneventfully. For some reason at the time I had those priorities backwards.
77 Hours, lost, put down in a field, C152...sounds like a student getting what they paid for in both airplane and instructor. I picture an old beat-up Florida C152 with mediocre radios and a student learning from an instructor trying to get their first 200 hours of instruction time.
A150K
Well-Known Member
They thought you were an accident waiting to happen because you made a successful long X-C without GPS? jeez, what kind of instructor did you have? If I were your instructor I would've taken you out for a beer:beer:
I would love to give those guys a good old fashioned MikeD ass kicking all up and down their ramp, for that comment to you.
Pansies.
A150K
Well-Known Member
Pilotage nav is the most fun form of navigation that exists. It's a form of self gratification when you can say you got from point A to point B by just following a road or a river,
DR nav is too.
A150K
Well-Known Member
With an acurate winds aloft forcast it is a lot of fun. I personally like to back up dead reckoning with pilotage, GPS, or VOR nav just to make sure all is well.
DR backed with pilotage is a good way of checking yourself, without having to rely on technology.......builds the confidence too, as well as fun. I try to do straight DR point-to-point occasionally with no backup, just to see how accurate i can be.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
The kind of instructor who advises the owner to never let you fly their airplanes again right after you get your private in Indiana because you were tired of being milked by them and knew you were ready so you went elsewhere. "In the interest of the aircraft owners and the general public, I'm going to have to ask you continue your flying elsewhere...". They thought I was out of my mind for taking my checkride in a place I've never been before and over confident and hence may even, god forbid, fly one of their airplanes to an airport I never went to with a CFI first!
Also remember this is the school that wouldn't let me solo in more than a 7kt crosswind, although for most of the year its about 10-15kts. Because of that, my 3 solo XCs I did took 4 months to complete.
stesta5074
Well-Known Member
Referring to male genitalia? :beer:
A150K
Well-Known Member
Wow, what a D-Bag! He must've been one of those god's gift to aviation pilot factory types.....I got lucky with my primary CFI.The kind of instructor who advises the owner to never let you fly their airplanes again right after you get your private in Indiana because you were tired of being milked by them and knew you were ready so you went elsewhere. "In the interest of the aircraft owners and the general public, I'm going to have to ask you continue your flying elsewhere...". They thought I was out of my mind for taking my checkride in a place I've never been before and over confident and hence may even, god forbid, fly one of their airplanes to an airport I never went to with a CFI first!
Also remember this is the school that wouldn't let me solo in more than a 7kt crosswind, although for most of the year its about 10-15kts. Because of that, my 3 solo XCs I did took 4 months to complete.
Rosstafari
Hello, this is Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer
Oh lord! Still?
Good gravy man, I'm just going to go ahead, get it over with and change my name to "Dr. Evil"!
Well, they were going to change it back, but then that picture of you with the rabbit ears came out.
***** ** ***** *******, ***** ** *** ****.
Drum riff to the intro to Rush's "The Body Electric"?
Sorry man, kegerator's dry so my snark rheostat is on "11" today.