Compass swinging?

Matt Barrow wrote:
wrote in message
And how many died because they navigated by compass alone and got hopelessly
lost or ran into something...like a mountain?

People who run into mountains aren't using their eyes, much less
the compass. That's what VFR minima are for. Anyone in the mountains in
low viz is likely to die and it's not the compass' (or the
government's) fault. IFR minima require a flight altitude 2000' above
the peaks.
As I said befo Your fancy electronics (and gyros, too) can
die from any number of diseases, leaving you with only your magnetic
compass, and if it isn't accurate (and you don't have your VNC handy
and know exactly where you are) you might regret it. At least the mag
compass will continue to work much more reliably than the electronics.
ELTs are another item often ignored, and we've heard the stories
of the guys down in the bush, watching the search planes fly over
looking for that needle in the haystack while they think about their
ELT with the long-expired battery. They've just bought the farm for the
price of an ELT battery and recertification. The diaries they leave
behind are sad.

Dan

wrote:
IFR minima require a flight altitude 2000' above
the peaks.

Above the terrain, not necessarily the peaks. You may be in a valley
several thousand feet below the peaks at a legal IFR altitude.



At least the mag
compass will continue to work much more reliably than the electronics.

Work, yes. Relaiably, maybe. Many areas the compass isn't worth a damn.



ELTs are another item often ignored, and we've heard the stories
of the guys down in the bush, watching the search planes fly over
looking for that needle in the haystack while they think about their
ELT with the long-expired battery.


If you were smart you'd have a second ELT, preferably one you can talk
on, with all those expired batteries that were never used. Carry it
around with you after you crash.

Newps wrote:
wrote:
IFR minima require a flight altitude 2000' above
the peaks.

Above the terrain, not necessarily the peaks. You may be in a valley
several thousand feet below the peaks at a legal IFR altitude.

Yup. Canadian IFR reg 602.124 (2) says:

(2) When an aircraft referred to in subsection (1) is not being
operated on an airway or air route or within airspace in respect of
which a minimum altitude referred to in paragraph (1)(b) has been
established, the pilot-in-command shall ensure that the aircraft is
operated at or above

(a) an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle located within
a horizontal distance of five nautical miles from the estimated
position of the aircraft in flight;

(b) in a region designated as a mountainous region in the Designated
Airspace Handbook and identified therein as area 1 or 5, an altitude of
2,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal distance of
five nautical miles from the estimated position of the aircraft in
flight; and

(c) in a region designated as a mountainous region in the Designated
Airspace Handbook and identified therein as area 2, 3 or 4, an altitude
of 1,500 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal distance
of five nautical miles from the estimated position of the aircraft in
flight.

Nobody (sane) is going to take off with the intention to
navigate that way with just a magnetic compass, because other regs
require sufficient and appropriate radio gear to track such a course
clear of the granite. However, if all the electrical goodies failed, a
mag compass is better than nothing in such a place. But not much
better.
Here in the Rockies the peaks are many and close enough
together that to be legal a pilot isn't going to be IFR in the valleys.
Not legally, anyway. A few try it but usually come to grief. And their
ELTs don't often work, either. Even with a good ELT they hit so hard
that everything shatters.

Dan

wrote:
Newps wrote:

wrote:
IFR minima require a flight altitude 2000' above

the peaks.

Above the terrain, not necessarily the peaks. You may be in a valley
several thousand feet below the peaks at a legal IFR altitude.

Here in the Rockies the peaks are many and close enough
together that to be legal a pilot isn't going to be IFR in the valleys.
Not legally, anyway. A few try it but usually come to grief. And their
ELTs don't often work, either. Even with a good ELT they hit so hard
that everything shatters.


We are on the edge of the Rockies and have several airways that go
between mountain ranges and have MEA's many thousands of feet below the
peaks.

On Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:47:50 -0700, Newps wrote:



wrote:
Newps wrote:

wrote:
IFR minima require a flight altitude 2000' above

the peaks.

Above the terrain, not necessarily the peaks. You may be in a valley
several thousand feet below the peaks at a legal IFR altitude.

Here in the Rockies the peaks are many and close enough
together that to be legal a pilot isn't going to be IFR in the valleys.
Not legally, anyway. A few try it but usually come to grief. And their
ELTs don't often work, either. Even with a good ELT they hit so hard
that everything shatters.


We are on the edge of the Rockies and have several airways that go
between mountain ranges and have MEA's many thousands of feet below the
peaks.

I guess the FAA trusts avionics a lot more than the Canadian DOT.