PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Airspace, navigation and zones
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Old 9th Mar 2022, 15:37
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pasta
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: London
Posts: 628
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Google Earth (not Google Maps) is a really good tool for practicing navigation; it's pretty easy to set up so that the view looks like the one from your cockpit at a given altitude, and then you can practice "flying" around the landscape and relating what you see out of the window (ie on the screen) to what's on your paper map. It's a really good way to get a feel for what features actually stand out, and if you don't get lost accidentally it's also very easy to simulate an "unsure of position" situation and practice sorting yourself out.

Once you're confident knowing your position on the paper map, airspace is relatively easy, especially if you've done your planning and know what airspace to expect.

Edit: Once you're confident with a paper map, as others have said, get a decent GPS-based moving map and learn to use that too; where I am there are several free options that you can run on your mobile phone. It's important to be able to navigate the traditional way, but using a moving map will significantly reduce your chances of infringing airspace. Maintain a constant awareness of where you actually are, so that you can move back to the paper map if your electronics fail.

Last edited by pasta; 9th Mar 2022 at 16:13.
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