Do you use your magnetic compass?

Judah wrote:

Actually, according to the discovery channel, the earth's poles are
weakening, and will ultimately reverse polarity...

Pilots everywhere are going to become very confused very quickly.

Most, though, will be most horrified when their toilet bowl flushes the wrong
way.

Well, if that's what's going to horrify me most, then having my magnetic compass
become a flip-flop will be a non-event. I haven't made a habit of watching the stuff
in the toilet go down the drain in *many* years.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

Yes!

..and it is "swung" and has a card, and it is used (read)
often....

3 of our 4 pilots are also boaters..

The compass has no pumps, batteries, power supplies, and the
earths magnetic field has proven to be very reliable..

We keep in in "good order" , same as all other equipment on
the A/C...

Dave

.On Sat, 15 May 2004 12:33:25 GMT, "Roger Long"
om wrote:

A recent compass swing on our plane has turned up some opinions about
magnetic compasses that are surprising to me..

A club member has asked me why we spent money to have a 14 degree error
removed from our compass since it is just a back up instrument if everything
else quits. He just sets the DG to the runway heading on takeoff and uses
that. A couple of 360 in our 172 to look at something on the ground will
put our DG 15 -20 degrees off and it drifts about that much each hour. That
doesn't seem to concern him.

Snip


Are these casual attitudes towards compass accuracy I'm encountering common?

Fortunately, it is estimated that this process will take between a few
years and a few hundred thousand. So while all experts seem to agree that
we are long overdue (it has been about 750,000 years since our last pole
swap, and supposedly it normally occurs about every 300,000), there is a
chance that you will not be required to revitalize your former pastime of
toilet-gazing too soon.

And as long as you have had your compass card upgraded before the process
is complete, it will indeed be a non-event. Just another FAA
Airworthiness Directive to comply with at your next annual...

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in
:



Judah wrote:

Actually, according to the discovery channel, the earth's poles are
weakening, and will ultimately reverse polarity...

Pilots everywhere are going to become very confused very quickly.

Most, though, will be most horrified when their toilet bowl flushes
the wrong way.

Well, if that's what's going to horrify me most, then having my
magnetic compass become a flip-flop will be a non-event. I haven't made
a habit of watching the stuff in the toilet go down the drain in *many*
years.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

How are you going to fly an ATC heading without a good compass? You
cannot use the GPS because that gives ground track, not heading and
will mess up the controllers sequencing. Also, you should be
confortable using only the compass for nav.

"Roger Long" om wrote in message ...
A recent compass swing on our plane has turned up some opinions about
magnetic compasses that are surprising to me..

A club member has asked me why we spent money to have a 14 degree error
removed from our compass since it is just a back up instrument if everything
else quits. He just sets the DG to the runway heading on takeoff and uses
that. A couple of 360 in our 172 to look at something on the ground will
put our DG 15 -20 degrees off and it drifts about that much each hour. That
doesn't seem to concern him.

An A&P I asked in another forum said he hopes his customers don't expect him
to get the compass closer than about 10 degrees. Our shop says 10 degrees
is what is allowed.

I used to do a lot of sailing and a degree or two in a compass is a big deal
to me. Even though I can do direct to with the Loran or GPS, I like to be
able to start out in the right direction. If I'm looking for an airport or
landmark, knowing pretty accurately where the aircraft is pointed helps. If
everything else quits, I'd really like to know where the plane is pointed
while I try to find a place to land.

I agree that the compass is pretty fuzzy in an airplane. By the time you
get it to settle down, set the DG, and add in the difficulty of figuring out
exactly where the axis of the airplane is, 10 degrees may be the best you
can do. However, my experience with both navigation and engineering tells
me that it's still worth being precise where you can. If you accept a 10
degree error in the compass itself and then add the 10 degrees of other
factors, you could be up to 20 degrees. That seems like a lot to me.

Am I being overly compulsive about this? I know that everything the
magnetic compass tells you has to be verified with all other available
information but it is still the primary source of direction information in a
simple aircraft like our 172.

Are these casual attitudes towards compass accuracy I'm encountering common?

"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

How are you going to fly an ATC heading without a good compass?

It's been my experience that ATC provides a heading for you to fly and keeps an eye
on you for a while to make sure that you are flying the course they actually want. If
your compass is off by, say, 10 degrees, they will give you a corrected heading to
fly.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

"Judah" wrote in message
...
Actually, according to the discovery channel, the earth's poles are
weakening, and will ultimately reverse polarity...

Pilots everywhere are going to become very confused very quickly.

Most, though, will be most horrified when their toilet bowl flushes the
wrong
way.

Nope. Flush direction is a rotational thing, not magnetic. Unless you have
magnetic water?
--
Jim in NC


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In article , Morgans
wrote:

"Judah" wrote in message
...
Actually, according to the discovery channel, the earth's poles are
weakening, and will ultimately reverse polarity...

Pilots everywhere are going to become very confused very quickly.

Most, though, will be most horrified when their toilet bowl flushes the
wrong
way.

Nope. Flush direction is a rotational thing, not magnetic. Unless you have
magnetic water?

A good chemical softener will take the iron right out of it (and make
your soap lather up, too). ;-)

I had a real no-kidding gyro failure a few weeks ago. It was mostly VMC, but
my student was under the hood. She was off her heading by more than 90
degrees within a few seconds, the gyro having precessed that much before she
noticed it. Once she started using the compass, though, she was able to
follow the localizer very well. She also covered the failed instruments,
just as I had taught her. I was so proud...

Anyway, I think that an accurate compass might just be real handy someday.
The attitude of "just a backup" concerns me. It sounds like this pilot
thinks things never go wrong.

My Dad bought a water softener in 1952. Didn't know what it was, but my
shorts got softer.

Mike $$$

Actually, according to the discovery channel, the earth's poles are
weakening, and will ultimately reverse polarity...

When should we start worrying about this, in 500 or 50,000 years?

And will it come before or after we are all drowned by rising sea
levels?

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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