I think the whizz wheel (Dalton Flight Computer) is compulsory, it requires understanding of the vectors involved in flying.
That's the whole point. You need to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it, not operating a programmable calculator and getting your decimal points all wrong.
Learn to fly first, use shortcuts later when you have sufficient knowledge and experience to spot errors.
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Last edited by mike-wsm; 21st Nov 2012 at 11:11.