Finding the Airfield
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Finding the Airfield
Hi everyone,
I'm just trying to keep my hand in with quick fire solutions when temporarily unsure of your position. Would everyone go with the position fix by drawing a line from two VORs to find the cross and therefore your position approach or do you have little tricks up your sleeve to minimize heads down time in the cockpit?
I'd be interested in hearing from your experience.
I'm just trying to keep my hand in with quick fire solutions when temporarily unsure of your position. Would everyone go with the position fix by drawing a line from two VORs to find the cross and therefore your position approach or do you have little tricks up your sleeve to minimize heads down time in the cockpit?
I'd be interested in hearing from your experience.
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First and most important - if unsure of position and no hazardous traffic close, start to circle and keep your rough position.
After that look out of the window to find noticeable landmarks - compare them to your map and continue until you get an idea where you are. Be aware, this can take a while if untrained, but gets faster and faster the more often you try train train train and - use your brain, use your brain, use your brain!
Add a little spice of CFVR and if you are lucky to receive two VOR, get their radials for a cross bearing.
If you only get one VOR, but have clear view but are able to determine ground distances, use one VOR for a doubling the angle of the bow fix. Hint: if you have a shadow line or edge in cockpit, use it to go a straight line.
After that look out of the window to find noticeable landmarks - compare them to your map and continue until you get an idea where you are. Be aware, this can take a while if untrained, but gets faster and faster the more often you try train train train and - use your brain, use your brain, use your brain!
Add a little spice of CFVR and if you are lucky to receive two VOR, get their radials for a cross bearing.
If you only get one VOR, but have clear view but are able to determine ground distances, use one VOR for a doubling the angle of the bow fix. Hint: if you have a shadow line or edge in cockpit, use it to go a straight line.
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(1) Your title was "finding the airfield", which is often a fun game, when it's somewhere you haven't been before particularly if it only has grass runways. I find that studying the local scenery in Google Earth beforehand is helpful - you can fly your approach to the airfield at the expected height and work out which landmarks to look for.
(2) Even if you've only got an ancient monochrome GPS with no usable moving map in a rented spamcan, "direct to" the destination airfield will tell you how far away from it you are in which direction. And if it's only a handful of miles don't forget to look straight down - it's surprisingly easy to fail to "find the airfield" when in fact you're right on top of it.
(3) And then when you are looking at the ground and trying to find one grass field in the middle of a load of other grass fields, the giveaway is sometimes the presence of parked aeroplanes, which are often easier to pick out than an unmarked or poorly marked runway. (I hear that Fenland give away "I actually managed to find Fenland" badges these days?)
(4) It's quite common that there isn't actually a VOR radial that you can fly along, because nobody has put a VOR in the right place for your trip. But you can plan a "guard" radial from a VOR, so that you know that if you cross it you've gone too far. As most VORs also have DME, you check the DME when you hit the radial and that tells you whether to turn left or right (if you've really managed to get that lost). A guard radial can also (depending on geography) sometimes be helpful when planning how not to infringe a particular piece of CAS.
If you have written on your PLOG the bearings and DME distances of your waypoints from various VORs and other useful things (remembering that you can use "DME distances" to things that don't have DMEs as long as they have idents that you can enter into the GPS) then it becomes quite difficult to become that "uncertain of position" in the first place. (Personally I also write out the dots-and-dashes for the navaid idents, having never passed a radio ham morse test as a child.)
Most of which, you'll see, is about preparation, not about stuff that you make up in the air. I only go flying without any sort of written plan when I'm staying in an area I know very well.
[Having said which, my IR(R) examiner did expect me to do the radial-and-DME thing to tell him exactly where we were on the map, after he'd got me lost by doing stuff that one doesn't do on a normally planned cross-country flight. And then he kept questioning exactly what I was telling him, until I sussed out what his game was ... which was to see how long he could con me into taking my eyes off the AI, and how far into a spiral dive I was going to get before I stopped messing with the map and did something about it.]
(2) Even if you've only got an ancient monochrome GPS with no usable moving map in a rented spamcan, "direct to" the destination airfield will tell you how far away from it you are in which direction. And if it's only a handful of miles don't forget to look straight down - it's surprisingly easy to fail to "find the airfield" when in fact you're right on top of it.
(3) And then when you are looking at the ground and trying to find one grass field in the middle of a load of other grass fields, the giveaway is sometimes the presence of parked aeroplanes, which are often easier to pick out than an unmarked or poorly marked runway. (I hear that Fenland give away "I actually managed to find Fenland" badges these days?)
(4) It's quite common that there isn't actually a VOR radial that you can fly along, because nobody has put a VOR in the right place for your trip. But you can plan a "guard" radial from a VOR, so that you know that if you cross it you've gone too far. As most VORs also have DME, you check the DME when you hit the radial and that tells you whether to turn left or right (if you've really managed to get that lost). A guard radial can also (depending on geography) sometimes be helpful when planning how not to infringe a particular piece of CAS.
If you have written on your PLOG the bearings and DME distances of your waypoints from various VORs and other useful things (remembering that you can use "DME distances" to things that don't have DMEs as long as they have idents that you can enter into the GPS) then it becomes quite difficult to become that "uncertain of position" in the first place. (Personally I also write out the dots-and-dashes for the navaid idents, having never passed a radio ham morse test as a child.)
Most of which, you'll see, is about preparation, not about stuff that you make up in the air. I only go flying without any sort of written plan when I'm staying in an area I know very well.
[Having said which, my IR(R) examiner did expect me to do the radial-and-DME thing to tell him exactly where we were on the map, after he'd got me lost by doing stuff that one doesn't do on a normally planned cross-country flight. And then he kept questioning exactly what I was telling him, until I sussed out what his game was ... which was to see how long he could con me into taking my eyes off the AI, and how far into a spiral dive I was going to get before I stopped messing with the map and did something about it.]
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(I hear that Fenland give away "I actually managed to find Fenland" badges these days?)
I got Fenland for my QXC. Having "got lost" with my instructor the week before I pored over Google Earth to the nth degree to identify some ground-features and managed to spot it on the day. For the OP, the plane I fly doesn't have any IFR kit so a portable GPS or two (phone and tablet) are my best electronic options.
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What's wrong with a moving map GPS?
To the OP, yes, using two VOR radials is great for confirming your position. Time is a very useful tool for knowing where you are, or at least where you could be. Most important, if you are in, or near controlled airspace, and you could be lost, tell ATC without delay. They will not laugh at you, they will help....
We glider folk run from thermal to best guess for next thermal in general direction of next turnpoint or destination.
Lots of time to look at map in thermal. Look more diligently at map when airspace getting near.
Some pedants look down their nose at track crawling, but it's hard to get lost if you stay on or alongside the line on the map
Night is a different ball game. Decades ago I would be happily tracking a VOR course without being sure exactly where I was on the track. In a pinch I could reference the time I noted crossing the last VOR.
These days GPS makes it easy.
Lots of time to look at map in thermal. Look more diligently at map when airspace getting near.
Some pedants look down their nose at track crawling, but it's hard to get lost if you stay on or alongside the line on the map
Night is a different ball game. Decades ago I would be happily tracking a VOR course without being sure exactly where I was on the track. In a pinch I could reference the time I noted crossing the last VOR.
These days GPS makes it easy.
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I had to check the date of the first post to make sure it was written in this century.
What's wrong with a moving map GPS?
What's wrong with a moving map GPS?
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OP: what if your a/c doesn't have any navaids or u/s ones? I would go with the circle and then ground to map. If all else fails there is absolutely no problem in calling for a heading to your dest. That's one of the services there for you to use if needs be.
As posters have mentioned, nothing beats pre planning eventualities. GPS is fine, I'm a great believer in it myself but always have an option. I lost mine shortly after taking off this year in a non nav aid a/c, just reached for the map with lines and info preplanned on it and carried on.
+1.
Been there, done that.
I usually pop in a couple of times a year and even after all this time I just about know how to find it. Lovely caff.
+1.
As posters have mentioned, nothing beats pre planning eventualities. GPS is fine, I'm a great believer in it myself but always have an option. I lost mine shortly after taking off this year in a non nav aid a/c, just reached for the map with lines and info preplanned on it and carried on.
I find that studying the local scenery in Google Earth beforehand is helpful
it's surprisingly easy to fail to "find the airfield" when in fact you're right on top of it.
I hear that Fenland give away "I actually managed to find Fenland" badges these days?
Personally I also write out the dots-and-dashes for the navaid idents,
The better aerodrome operators publish the approach on their website, even with some photography. Much beter than Google Earth or such.
As for being right overhead without ever having seen: has happened to me quite a few times. There is one field (EBBN Büllingen) where I am lucky to _not_ run into this.
As for being right overhead without ever having seen: has happened to me quite a few times. There is one field (EBBN Büllingen) where I am lucky to _not_ run into this.
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One other thing, as I mentioned in another post recently if you are going somewhere new always have a look on You Tube first, loads of people film approaches and take offs at various places in very good def these days. Always do as much as you can, you might not use 95% of it but I can tell you from personal experience, when you do need it you're damn glad you did the planning to cover all eventualities.
If you need to navigate to a point which may be more challenging to locate (e.g. Fenland) don't plan to route direct but route to a point (Initial Point) nearby which is easy to find (Spalding?).
Get overhead the IP and fly Heading and Time to reach "destination" - if you don't find point after the planned time, do a 180 and return to the IP and start again.
That said I often see students flying right overhead the turning point but don't see it as it's right below the a/c! I encourage them to do a 360 degree steep turn to take a look below - they usually see it then.
Of course there is GPS etc too but you also need to hone basic skills to be a well rounded pilot.
Get overhead the IP and fly Heading and Time to reach "destination" - if you don't find point after the planned time, do a 180 and return to the IP and start again.
That said I often see students flying right overhead the turning point but don't see it as it's right below the a/c! I encourage them to do a 360 degree steep turn to take a look below - they usually see it then.
Of course there is GPS etc too but you also need to hone basic skills to be a well rounded pilot.
it's surprisingly easy to fail to "find the airfield" when in fact you're right on top of it
A useful rule of thumb here is that if you are within 3 mins of your eta, the airfield will already be hidden under the nose.
MJ
Sir Francis Chichester flew a Tiger Moth floatplane across the Tasman Sea and had to find the small islands of Lord Howe and Norfolk Island which were refuel stops in the middle of the Sea. All he had was a Compass and a Sextant, charts etc
Instead of planning to route direct he deliberately planned to go about 60 miles abeam the island(s) and after flying for circa 2/3 hours he then knew for sure that the island was on the right hand side of the a/c. He then turned right through ninety degrees and flew along a position line off the sun to find the island. A brilliant bit of navigation!
Ok we're not flying across oceans finding small islands but there is much to be learned from what he did.
He wrote a book (amongst many) called "Alone Over the Tasman Sea" which if you can get a copy is an excellent read.
Oh and he did this in 1929.
Sir Francis Chichester
Instead of planning to route direct he deliberately planned to go about 60 miles abeam the island(s) and after flying for circa 2/3 hours he then knew for sure that the island was on the right hand side of the a/c. He then turned right through ninety degrees and flew along a position line off the sun to find the island. A brilliant bit of navigation!
Ok we're not flying across oceans finding small islands but there is much to be learned from what he did.
He wrote a book (amongst many) called "Alone Over the Tasman Sea" which if you can get a copy is an excellent read.
Oh and he did this in 1929.
Sir Francis Chichester
Last edited by fireflybob; 4th Oct 2015 at 20:50.
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Hi LicenceToLearn,
I think using a VOR for a position fix is a very good idea and generally quite easy to do. If you have one of those ruler thingys inside a protractor they're really good for working out where you are if the VOR has DME as well.
I think there's been some really good advice so far. But it's important to remember that getting lost 'can' be serious and therefore if you are really struggling to know what your position is my best advice would be to switch frequency to 121.5 (London Centre) unless you are already with a radar controller and either ask for a training fix or make a pan call and say that you are lost. They will be able to give you a fix immediately and help you get back on track and away from danger or controlled airspace. They're there to help you so don't feel embarrassed about ever using them.
Hope that helps.
I think using a VOR for a position fix is a very good idea and generally quite easy to do. If you have one of those ruler thingys inside a protractor they're really good for working out where you are if the VOR has DME as well.
I think there's been some really good advice so far. But it's important to remember that getting lost 'can' be serious and therefore if you are really struggling to know what your position is my best advice would be to switch frequency to 121.5 (London Centre) unless you are already with a radar controller and either ask for a training fix or make a pan call and say that you are lost. They will be able to give you a fix immediately and help you get back on track and away from danger or controlled airspace. They're there to help you so don't feel embarrassed about ever using them.
Hope that helps.
Using VORs isn't going to help you identify a cleverly disguised airfield.
They can put you in the general vicinity, but they won't pick out a green strip amongst green fields.
I fly to a number of strips which are not marked on any published charts.
My aircraft has no RNAV gear. No problem. GPS co-ordinates, A photo from Google Earth and SkyDemon.
I'm assuming that the OP was referring to identification, the reference to VOR tracking being a Red herring.
I flew up to Perth and back the other day using St Abbs VOR as a waypoint. On the GPS.
They can put you in the general vicinity, but they won't pick out a green strip amongst green fields.
I fly to a number of strips which are not marked on any published charts.
My aircraft has no RNAV gear. No problem. GPS co-ordinates, A photo from Google Earth and SkyDemon.
I'm assuming that the OP was referring to identification, the reference to VOR tracking being a Red herring.
I flew up to Perth and back the other day using St Abbs VOR as a waypoint. On the GPS.
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A point about using GPS nav software such as Skydemon. If you are routing to a new strip that looks like it's hard to find, don't put your end point on the strip. This has been mentioned in a round about way above. Put the end point three miles to the right of the strip as you look at it track up (airspace and other considerations taken into account of course) then you aren't trying to see through the nose for your strip, it will drift down the pilot's side.