What a very strange thread.
Whirly asks:
What would you include/take out/put in?
And 8 pages, and 150+ posts later says:
In which case, do we even have a problem?
I find it bizarre that you can have so many good contributions (and granted some less good ones) and distill absolutely nothing form then.
Whirly - you should have been a politician - not a flying instructor.
Whirly also says:
PPLs then have a choice...and as you might have gathered CHOICE is a word I like.
I am not sure it really is a word you like - or many others for that matter.
Choice means having the ability to chose between one or more alternatives. Implied is also the ability to chose freely.
Therefore, whether you are pro or anti GPS lobby choice means giving the student the opportunity to make an informed choice between each. If his choice is to be informed then he needs to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each. For that reason, as I said before, the syllabus should include an introduction to the use of GPS.
IMO it shows a complete lack of understanding to suggest that the use of GPS does not need to be taught for two reasons. Firstly, if the student does not experience different systems of navigation he cannot make that choice that you hold so dear. (And sadly it is no good relying on mentoring post PPL because in a great many cases it does not happen). Secondly, it really isnt as simple as reading the manuals - it should be obvious from this thread and others that there is a great deal to teaching students how to use GPS systems correctly for navigation.
The debate has become polarised into the usual pro anti GPS camps. It is hugely disappointing that each camp cannot accommodate the other with each far more concerned with trying to prove theirs is the better camp.
The other component of navigation is planning. There has been relatively little discussion about how the syllabus teaches students to acquire the information they need to plan a safe flight. When I did my PPL, this aspect of navigation was hopeless. I had no idea where to find most of what I needed, other than the club notice board, which didn’t prove much help when I eventually started flying to more far flung destinations!
Come on, get off your hobby horses, listen to each other views and come up with some positive ways in which the syllabus could be improved for Whirly.
That is what you wanted Whirly - wasn’t it