Why The Hell... (random rant)

Kev writes:

Yeah, eyes.

Not just eyes. You need a source of information. Without that, you won't
recognize anything. People overlook this sort of thing and then get in
trouble when they discover the hardware that an essential source of
information that they had previously taken for granted is no longer available.

Lots of people flew across the Atlantic with sometimes
just a compass, and they easily recognized the coast of England /
France / whatever with their bare old eyes ;-)

Just a compass? No charts or other aids at all?

It's true that if you start at certain latitudes and fly due east, you'll
eventually hit some part of Europe. That's essentially just throwing darts,
however.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"Mxsmanic" wrote

If I had failures serious enough to fall back on a magnetic compass, the
presence of the compass would not be very reassuring overall.


That's your opinion then. I can speak from my own experience, I've been in
that situation a few times and the magnetic compass has been a great help.

Of course without training and practical experience in using the magnetic
compass, its value is limited. But using it happens to be included in the
pilot's license curriculum, and for a reason.

"Mxsmanic" wrote ...
Kev writes:

Yeah, eyes.

Not just eyes. You need a source of information. Without that, you won't
recognize anything. People overlook this sort of thing and then get in
trouble when they discover the hardware that an essential source of
information that they had previously taken for granted is no longer
available.

Lots of people flew across the Atlantic with sometimes
just a compass, and they easily recognized the coast of England /
France / whatever with their bare old eyes ;-)

Just a compass? No charts or other aids at all?

It's true that if you start at certain latitudes and fly due east, you'll
eventually hit some part of Europe. That's essentially just throwing
darts,
however.


How is this relevant to the topic? Has anyone here questioned the need for
charts (except when flying in familiar areas) ?

On Apr 7, 8:43 am, "Snowbird" wrote:
"Mxsmanic" wrote



If I had failures serious enough to fall back on a magnetic compass, the
presence of the compass would not be very reassuring overall.

That's your opinion then. I can speak from my own experience, I've been in
that situation a few times and the magnetic compass has been a great help.

Of course without training and practical experience in using the magnetic
compass, its value is limited. But using it happens to be included in the
pilot's license curriculum, and for a reason.


I remember flying 'partial panel' under the hood where the compass was
an essential part of the scan..
and its unbreakable (unless you hang a magnet off it)

In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:
Kev writes:

But when you have to, you're damned glad it's there.

If I had failures serious enough to fall back on a magnetic compass, the
presence of the compass would not be very reassuring overall.

Of course it wouldn't.

It wouldn't be reassuring to anyone that has had no training as a pilot.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:
Kev writes:

snip

Lots of people flew across the Atlantic with sometimes
just a compass, and they easily recognized the coast of England /
France / whatever with their bare old eyes ;-)

Just a compass? No charts or other aids at all?

It's true that if you start at certain latitudes and fly due east, you'll
eventually hit some part of Europe. That's essentially just throwing darts,
however.

Not to real pilots, sim pilots maybe, but not real pilots.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

On 04/06/07 13:56, george wrote:

I remember flying 'partial panel' under the hood where the compass was
an essential part of the scan..
and its unbreakable (unless you hang a magnet off it)


I wouldn't say it's unbreakable. It may not suffer from problems due
to electrical or vacuum failure (other than perhaps the light), but
it can certainly leak it's fluid or get knocked out of alignment, etc.

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Kev writes:

But when you have to, you're damned glad it's there.

If I had failures serious enough to fall back on a magnetic compass, the
presence of the compass would not be very reassuring overall.


Don't worry, there has never been a navigation failure reported on a desk or
any of it's related hardware.

Maxwell wrote:

Don't worry, there has never been a navigation failure reported on a desk
or any of it's related hardware.

....well, I have had occasions when I was no longer quite sure where I was
(nor who was I, nor what was the time, nor why was I there in the first
place) after sitting at my desk for too long... but that's what expresso
machines are for.

--Sylvain

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
writes:


But that wasn't the assertion. The assertion was that there was no
electricity in some aircraft. If they have typical powerplants, there is
electricity.

Uh, no. What Ron Natalie said was:

"The engine in just about every airplane out there runs just freaking fine
without any electrical power consumed nor delivered to the rest of the
aircraft."

It's an accurate statement - that's probably what confused you.

"..no electricity" is what you mis-stated. Who asserted no electricity?

CJ