IO540: One side is a conventional slide rule, as was used by all real engineers for mult/div throughout the first half of the 20th century.
- Well it was in common usage by the end of the 17th century and I was still using one as a student in the mid 70's so I reckon that makes it more than 300 years!
A slide rule is an excellent tool (and the CAA require that we teach it, so we teach it) but it requires an ability to estimate and many people do seem to struggle. Personally I would prefer to keep it in the syllabus but I'd rather be a flying instructor than a maths teacher so maybe we need to recognise that society has changed and it's time to allow it to fade away.
The vector triangle solver is great but MDR can be just as accurate and is more suitable for airborne use - so why not use it on the ground too.
HFD