Originally Posted by Dude~
Islander2, the same principles should work fine in a fast single.
Absolutely, they do. So does navigating by sextant. But precious few CAT flights still use map reading and MDR (or sextants) as the primary means of navigation. Or even secondary means for that matter.
The question is, which method is easier, more accurate, less likely to leave you uncertain of your position, extends the utility of the aeroplane and is, overall, less nerve-racking?
That this argument arises frequently on these forums suggests there is no overwhelmingly right answer to that question. Each pilot will decide for themselves given the challenges they enjoy, the equipment available and the type of flying they do.
I believe strongly that map reading and MDR should continue to be the first method of navigation a student pilot learns. Back to basics will always be, at the very least, an available fall-back when all else fails, whatever primary means is used.
Personally, I couldn't get overly concerned if an instructor keeps an eye on GPS-determined position while instructing basic navigation. Others on here would have said instructor put against the wall and shot.
But those same antagonists, in some cases, are complicit in a serious failing of the current PPL for many students, and I do get hot under the collar about that.
The fact is, a majority of pilots WILL use GPS when they get their licence, and some of those poor, misguided fools will go on to use it as the primary means of navigation. But the position taken by some individuals within the CAA and within much of the training industry will have ensured that many of those pilots received little or no useful tuition in flight planning and navigation where a GPS is to be used. They will not have a proper understanding of the gotchas, and how to avoid them. And they will not have a scientific basis for developing appropriate SOP's.
Those same individuals then wag their fingers where GPS is said to be a contributory factor in CAS infringements or head-in-cockpit airproxes, and attempt to take the moral high ground by saying: "I told them not to do it!"
GPS is here to stay. It WILL be used by numerous pilots as their primary means of navigation. Scaremongering by saying that it's not legal (untrue), unreliable (untrue) inaccurate (untrue), too difficult to use safely unless you fly daily (untrue) and all the other nonsense that is aired on here from time to time is unhelpful.
Surely, instead, the training industry should be providing practical assistance in GPS operation ... based on facts and experience rather than 'it wasn't like that in my day' prejudice ... to help those pilots fly safely.