The Proficient Pilot, Volume 1 (eBook Edition) by Barry Schiff

Author:Barry Schiff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.
Published: 2012-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Section 4: Getting There

In an era of increasing reliance on satellite navigation, pilots are tending to become complacent about the elements of basic navigation. But a failed microchip or dead batteries can necessitate immediate reversion to compass-and-clock navigation. The following chapters are intended to bolster the fundamentals and can be applied to radio and GPS navigation.

Chapter 21 Dead Reckoning Navigation is Alive and Well

It generally is agreed that the compass is a pilot’s primary navigation tool. But when it comes to specifying the second most valuable such device in the cockpit, there often is some difference of opinion.

New pilots generally favor the VOR or GPS receiver. But those with more experience vote for the clock. After all, when a fuse blows or the left/right needle behaves like a metronome gone berserk, a pilot must resort to basics. The reliable compass and clock become his primary weapons in a battle of wits against the elements. The compass indicates where he’s going, and the clock tells him how far. Without either of these allies, a pilot can get very lost very fast, especially when above clouds or when over terrain where checkpoints are confusingly few and far apart.

Compass-and-clock, or dead-reckoning navigation, however, is slowly becoming a lost art as increasingly more reliance is placed on electronic guidance. Although no one can deny that radio and satellite navigation has simplified cockpit workload, pilots must avoid becoming too complacent.

Some, for example, do not keep track of their forward progress while navigating along a radial. They simply wait for the to/from flag to drop, which may provide the first positive fix since passing the previous station. But shouldn’t a pilot always know his position relative to the nearest airport?

Dead-reckoning, or DR navigation, is a relatively painless procedure that can and should be combined with electronic navigation so that a pilot is aware of his approximate position at all times.

According to popular definition, dead reckoning is short for “deduced reckoning” or, as the old-timers like to say, “you’re dead if you don’t reckon right.” In truth, however, the term originated with maritime navigation and refers to “reckoning or reasoning (one’s position) relative to something stationary or dead in the water.” Simply stated, DR navigation is a method of predicting progress enroute based on the direction of flight and the estimated groundspeed since the last known position.

Unfortunately, the mere mention of DR often makes a pilot uncomfortable with memories of FAA written examinations, wind triangles, and E6-B “confusers.”

But DR does not have to be laborious.

Consider, for example, Jack Chrysler, a friend who flies his airplane all over North and South America. Chrysler so simplified his dead-reckoning procedures that he considers them not only fun to use, but they frequently result in reduced flight time because he is not confined to the dog-legged dictates of Victor airways. Also, he claims to be more relaxed holding a constant heading than reacting to the semaphorelike movements of a VOR needle.

Prior to a VFR flight, Chrysler simply uses a yardstick and

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