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Old 6th Oct 2006, 19:56
  #65 (permalink)  
Greyman
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Wow, people, you have got to relax a little over this!
The most important aspect not really touched on must be safety – yours and every other poor f*@?** up there. As far as the originator of this thread, and every other low-houred GA pilot is concerned, good airmanship must always prevail. That means if you are still working towards your PPL then the priority must be on gaining a solid proficiency in time-tested navigational techniques – which means primarily visual navigation and lookout. Why do you think the military spend so long training in this way, despite all the Gucci kit you can shake a stick at. If you spend most of your time ‘heads in’ playing with kit then you’re just a liability up there.
Once you have a degree of proficiency and, most importantly, capacity, then is the time to start using your aircraft, and all the kit, as a tool to allow you to accomplish more – which is presumably why people want to fly anyway. Electronic navigation aids are amazing bits of kit that reduce pilot workload and can increase efficiency and accuracy. However, sometimes that comes at the price of distraction and reduced lookout (in a VFR context). They have a place, but all in good time. Master the basics first and you will always have a solid foundation to refer to.
GM
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