Originally Posted by
mad_bear
Thanks for the replies.
As other have said, with my limited experience flying the plane requires 100% of my meagre brain-power, so I have little left for navigation. But I'm not really trying to navigate, as such; merely to recognize things in my local area. I have been surprised how difficult that is for me. Yesterday I flew over what ought to have been a highly distinctive landmark -- a 300-ft tall windmill. I can recognize it from miles away on the ground, but in the air I didn't spot it until it was pointed out to me. I found this rather disconcerting.
I fly out of Elstree, and there are two (maybe more) VRPs marked on the chart within a few minutes flight. I really can't imagine that I would have recognized either of them from the air had they not been pointed out to me. Without being shown, I would have had absolutely no idea what a golf couse looks like from the air. I'm not sure how I would cope with recognizing VRPs I've never seen before.
I've tried Google Earth but, for far as I can tell, it can only view from directly above (unless other people know different). What I see out of the cockpit doesn't look the same. Maybe I can make the adjustment with practice, or maybe you have to have some built-in image processing skill that I lack.
As for GPS: I appreciate that this may be the wrong place for a moan but, when I started flying, it appalled me that GPS wasn't a standard part of training and of navigation examinations. I would have thought by now that a GPS unit would have been as essential a piece of cockpit equipment as a magnetic compass, and use of GPS an essential skill. It's not even particularly expensive. Of course a GPS unit can fail, but so can any other piece of equipment. Moan over
MB,
You can "tilt" the GoogleEarth map with MMB or using the "tilt view" controls. It's pretty cool, and is the ultimate "VFR flight simulator !" If you press CTR-G you can then "fly" the map using RMB-drag-up to speed up, RMB-drag-back to slow down, and LMB-drag-down / up to "pull" and 'push' the "control wheel"
You can also set markers and save images, turn on legends and names of roads and landmarks, it's a great learning aid.
I just "flew" over to your field with GE, and see that you have a large lake and a predominant highway near to the airport.
You also have two VOR's close by, BPK, BNN and it looks like the airport is on the intersetion of the BPK 238l, BNN 119 radials.
I see there's a large golf complex about 3mi SW of your field, and a smaller one to the SE. I love spotting golf courses from the air or even from G.E.
As for GPS, if you're plane has one, learn it, and take advantage of it, along with VOR, ADF, pilotage, d.r., maps, ATC and any other aid to orient yourself.
Mike