Viperdoc wrote:
Pick a safe altitude and file direct. I've gone from Wisconsin to
Charleston, SC direct, as well as upstate New York, and South Dakota without
a course change, all using the 530/430.

If the course ends up crossing an active MOA or restricted area, ATC will
vector you around as needed.

Who needs victor airways and VOR's? Listen to the XM radio while you're
enroute. Tune the VOR's and practice your Morse code if you have to, because
you won't need them for navigation.


You know, the greatest danger with those systems is complacency. I did a flight
many years ago when LORAN first became available in GA aircraft and was on my
way from Charlotte, NC to Beverly, MA when the system decided to change chains
on me. Oops. There I was, not paying a whole lot of attention and all of the
sudden I didn't know where I was. I mean, I knew I was somewhere on a direct
line between CLT and BVY but that was about it. I was just daydreaming away...
something I'd never do on a conventional victor airway flight.

Not only did I have to figure out where I was, I had to figure out what happened
to the LORAN. I learned that they had chains and that they sometimes needed to
be changed depending on where you were. I managed but there were a few minutes
of sheer confusion while I was dealing with it. Thank God I wasn't in
turbulence.


Shoot a LNAV/VNAV or LPV approach and see how steady the needles are
compared to an ILS.


I really got to learn how to do one of those. I can still fly a good NDB
approach and my ILS work looks good, but those GPS approaches are beyond me. I
guess I need to pay an instructor. I hate that.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com