x-country solo

"Joe Johnson" wrote in message
...
I believe you have described the scenario that explains why moving-map
GPS
has taken over the cockpit.

Agreed, Jay. One of the reasons I was so upset was that conditions were
as
CAVU as CAVU gets. The entire terrain beneath me was like a moving-map
GPS!

BTW, as a lurker here while I've been working on my private, I've enjoyed
your contributions very much. I hope to be guest of yours some day!
Funnily enough, really clear conditions, are when a lot of 'mistaken
location' events take place!.
The problem is I suspect that the good visibility, can encourage a false
sense of security. In worse conditions, there is a tendency to double check
yourself, and think 'am I sure', whereas in really good conditions, this can
tend to be forgotten...

Best Wishes

Agreed, Jay. One of the reasons I was so upset was that conditions were
as
CAVU as CAVU gets. The entire terrain beneath me was like a moving-map
GPS!

As someone else said, CAVU is when things can get especially dicey. It's
easy to relax a bit *too* much, and miss a waypoint or two...

Also, unless you're at 25,000 feet, it doesn't matter HOW clear it is -- you
don't get the "God's Eye View" of the world the way you do with GPS. With
our AvMap's huge color screen, and the feature that automatically zooms us
in as we get closer (until you literally have an airport diagram depicted,
with your position represented as a little airplane flying around the
airport!), it is literally impossible to get lost.

If I were you, my very next action would be to get on Ebay, and buy yourself
a nice, used GPS. They can be had quite cheaply, and it'll allow you to
relax a bit (I *know* you're going to be up-tight about this experience for
a while!) and concentrate on flying the plane.

BTW, as a lurker here while I've been working on my private, I've enjoyed
your contributions very much. I hope to be guest of yours some day!

Thanks, Joe -- we'll look forward to meeting you!

Keep pushing, and you'll be finished up before you know it. Getting my
ticket utterly changed my life -- it'll do the same for you! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If I were you, my very next action would be to get on Ebay, and buy yourself
a nice, used GPS.


Take the money you would have spent, and fly some more. Look out the window.
it's pretty, and it will save your bacon one day.

If you really want to use a GPS, get somebody else to fly (and pay) while you
ooh and ahh at the pretty screen and fiddle with the thumbwheels.

(gee, I'm beginning to sound like an old tart.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

If you really want to use a GPS, get somebody else to fly (and pay) while
you
ooh and ahh at the pretty screen and fiddle with the thumbwheels.

(gee, I'm beginning to sound like an old tart.

THUMBWHEELS?

Man, you don't just *sound* like an old fart... ;-)

(Hey, don't they put pull-starters on these dad-blamed GPS's? And where in
tarnation is the choke on this new-fangled thang??)

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote
If I were you, my very next action would be to get on Ebay, and buy yourself
a nice, used GPS. They can be had quite cheaply, and it'll allow you to
relax a bit (I *know* you're going to be up-tight about this experience for
a while!) and concentrate on flying the plane.

IMNSHO that's the worst possible advice. Joe, don't do it.

What happened is no big deal - file a NASA form if it makes you feel
better (they're free so no reason not to) but trust me, this isn't the
kind of thing the feds bust people for. Student pilot briefly gets
lost, but sorts out the problem and lands safely - talk about a
non-event. Yes, you inadvertently busted some airspace - no harm, no
foul. Part of the reason you go on solo XC is to get lost! It's a
great learning experience, and it sounds like you've learned a lot.

Virtually everyone I know got lost on a student solo XC flight, myself
included. Some triangulated with the VOR, some buzzed a water tower
to read the name of the town, and I even know one who landed in a
farmer's field to ask directions. With time, you get better. You
learn to pick out landmarks and runways out of the haze. You learn to
keep track of your position. And eventually, you just don't get lost
anymore unless you want to.

The reason for the solo XC requirement is to give you experience.
With the GPS, you wouldn't have had this experience - just the hours.
Learn to do without it - because it won't always be there.

I know a pilot who had to land in a field - she couldn't find the
airport after her GPS batteries died. Don't be her.

Michael

Thanks for the interesting perspective, Michael. Permission to stop the
self flagellation?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:8YMBb.502876$Fm2.482609@attbi_s04...
snip
If I were you, my very next action would be to get on Ebay, and buy yourself
a nice, used GPS. They can be had quite cheaply, and it'll allow you to
relax a bit (I *know* you're going to be up-tight about this experience for
a while!) and concentrate on flying the plane.

I wouldn't do that right away. Back in the pre-GPS days, learning
how to pick your destination airport out of the clutter was a
necessary part of training. Like general pilotage, it's a skill you
have to develop and practice. I had a few mix-ups like the OP, but
consider them valuable learning experiences. They helped me to develop
my cross checking skills so that I could verify my position more
positively.

I find that it's a skill that still comes in handy when flying to
airports that are not in the GPS database (I'm too lazy to enter them
manually).

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"John Galban" wrote in message
om...

I wouldn't do that right away. Back in the pre-GPS days, learning
how to pick your destination airport out of the clutter was a
necessary part of training. Like general pilotage, it's a skill you
have to develop and practice. I had a few mix-ups like the OP, but
consider them valuable learning experiences. They helped me to develop
my cross checking skills so that I could verify my position more
positively.

Hell, airline pilots have landed at the wrong airport next door.

I wouldn't do that right away. Back in the pre-GPS days, learning
how to pick your destination airport out of the clutter was a
necessary part of training.

And it still is. He won't be permitted to USE the GPS on his cross country
flights -- but just knowing that it's in the bag as a back-up, in case he
gets lost again, will make a HUGE difference in his self-confidence.

I'm betting he never needs it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"John Galban" wrote in message
om...
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:8YMBb.502876$Fm2.482609@attbi_s04...
snip
If I were you, my very next action would be to get on Ebay, and buy
yourself
a nice, used GPS. They can be had quite cheaply, and it'll allow you to
relax a bit (I *know* you're going to be up-tight about this experience
for
a while!) and concentrate on flying the plane.

Like general pilotage, it's a skill you
have to develop and practice. I had a few mix-ups like the OP, but
consider them valuable learning experiences. They helped me to develop
my cross checking skills so that I could verify my position more
positively.

I find that it's a skill that still comes in handy when flying to
airports that are not in the GPS database (I'm too lazy to enter them
manually).

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

True, Jay, but when the electricals fail, it's back to the MkI
eyeball, map, magnetic compass, and timepiece (you DO fly with watch
on, right?)

My first solo XC, I was on the second leg, looking out for the airport
- just SE of town, town's on the south side of a lake. Check the ET -
just about there, where the ^&T& is the field? The second hand ticks
over - I SHOULD be there NOW. Look out the side window (in a C-152)
and the runway is directly below. Made a believer out of me - plan
the flight, fly the plan.

Recently went out to do some grass-field work on the day after a snow
- even in the pattern the field was hard to see! (Yes, it had been
plowed.)

Corrie

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:8NGBb.496070$Tr4.1350042@attbi_s03...
Mistake discovered near XYZ pattern (runways obviously didn't match). ABC
tower (still in radio contact) notified. Then XYZ tower contacted,
mistake
acknowledged, and profuse apologies offered.

I believe you have described the scenario that explains why moving-map GPS
has taken over the cockpit.