I've spent the last few days on line training with a new pilot. At one of the breaks we were talking about situational versus spatial awareness. As an exercise for the sake of it we went Exmoor Batttersea at night on basic nav aids and pilot nav. The work load went up, but at the end of the trip there was a great feeling of satisfaction. The newer generation of pilots who have really no experience of "old fashioned" pilot nav are the ones who I find have problems with their situational awareness. A couple of years charging around Britain on charter can bring on something akin to a taxi driver's "knowledge" so long as the pilot is prepared to teach himself by looking out of the window and comparing it to a map.
VH