Slide Rule Holding Computers

[Skyler J. King]

Hi,

Are they permitted during an IR renewal test?

Cheers.

SJK.

[john_tullamarine]

For the benefit of those of us who have never heard of such gadgets, what do they do that the pilot can't do to an acceptable level of accuracy in his/her head at the time ? After all the sums are pretty straight forward and rules of thumb very easy to generate ...

[Skyler J. King]

They do a similar job to the popular CRP range of slide rules.

[keithl]

I didn't know what you meant, either, until I found "Holding Computer" on the internet. I doubt they'd be OK for an IRT - after all, you're not even allowed to mark your charts!

But regardless of that, manipulating such things takes more time / capacity than a few quick mental calculations do. I really don't think you have time on an IRT to start fiddling with one of those, and on the real "dark and dirty night" you need to be comfortable with doing the simple estimations in your head.

Save your money and exercise your mind!!

[john_tullamarine]

Well summarised, keithl.

The single pilot IFR-er is in the league of high workload, especially if the aircraft is a bit more serious than a Cessna 172.

I recall my own experience, having gone into an airline two-crew environment without the benefit of any GA IFR background. A couple of years later I thought it a good idea to qualify for a GA rating ... the Regulator accepted my airline rating training in lieu of the normal GA training courses but the representative suggested, in his wonderfully fatherly way, that I should go out and do a bit of practice .. he was far wiser than I .. (MB's RT for those who can remember him).

Whereupon I grabbed a GA mate, plus an Aztruck (as I recall - autopilot, what autopilot ?) and headed off into the gloomy depths of a rainy night to see what it was like doing it all by myself. An hour or two later I came back a far wiser and chastened chap. A few directed practice runs and I completed the rating test without too much difficulty but the experience has never left me.

Point of the story is that serious single pilot IFR is hard yakka .. I really admire the kids who do it from scratch in the minimum time frame ..

You don't really need to titivate the workload .. the ulcers are not, in themselves, overly productive or useful ...

[Skyler J. King]

A simple enough question, I'd hoped.
Can anyone answer it authoritatively?

[john_tullamarine]

Skyler J. King,

Apologies if we appeared to be getting off the question .. no intention to cause you inconvenience .. hopefully some Regulatory folk will wade in and provide you with some Regulator answers ...

[Piltdown Man]

I can see no reason other why not. However, I'd suggest that you use such a device at your peril! Miss a call or bust a level etc. whilst you are using said beast will bring an unhappy end to the test. I think we can all guess what the examiner would say. May I suggest that you throw the thing in the the bin (or sell it to another sucker on eBay) and when it comes time to enter the hold, do the easiest entry you can. I bet a pound to a pinch of poo that that would be the entry specified in the computer.

(I have to admit to having bought one for myself many years ago. Couldn't use the damn thing and when given the above advice, I binned it.)

Best of Luck.

PM

[keithl]

Not authoritative enough for you, SJK? Let me try again:
They would not be permitted for IRRs for the pilots of the company I work for. I cannot speak for the Authority - but you didn't specify who would be setting the test conditions.