getting back on track

[pilotho]

ok since my skills test got cancelled, i have more time to prepare for it. a problem cropped up for me however.

when i do nav exercises, i dont have a general way of getting back on track except to fly towards a feature on my track. this is known as crawling apparently.

what techniques do people use? really need some help!

i remember being taught that if i was 2nm off track then i can fly 10 degrees to the left or right for 1 min to get back on and 2mins for 4nm etc.

i aint too sure on it........

[funfly]

To be honest, if you don't have the answer to this you are not ready for your skills test.

[Paris Dakar]

pilotho,

Do you know why you find yourself off track for in the first place? Does it happen frequently?

Assuming that you have plotted your course correctly, then perhaps you need to identify some additional waypoints to check your timings against? I know it might seem a bit of a pain but it could help you understand where you might be going wrong?

If I'm flying in an area that I'm new to, I note as much as I can off my chart ie road junctions, railway tracks, lakes, power lines, villages/towns and any feature that I think may help. I check my timings against them and recalculate as required.

If it's any help, I managed to get completely confused about my exact location on a refresher flight before I renewed my rating last year. The worst thing was - I was only 20nm miles away from the town I have lived in all my life!!!

[funfly]

I wasn't trying to be pompous with my first reply so forgive me!
However, the scenario mentioned is one that you should be able to cope with at your skills test stage, you will find that the examiner will certainly require you to get to a destination other than the one you plogged.
Me - I would just look at the GPS :sad:

[Lister Noble]

I am a student also about to take the skills test,so have had similar problems sometimes.
I always mark off road junctions,towns,old airfields.lakes etc on the chart with their ETA,this seems to work well for me to date.
Always put the wind arrow on the chart so you don't have to start worrying where it's coming from when the charts upside down!
The main thing for me now is to relax,be really sure of my position ,times and track etc at all times, then if things look a bit strange have belief in my own dead reckoning.
If off track ,there is the 1:60 rule and other systems that will be explained in your text books,and you can always ask for a QDM from ATC if in serious doubt,it's best to ask for help before you get into trouble.

I'm never afraid to ask the instructors for help even if it seems a stupid question,after all that's why they are there.
When I first started for the first few trips I was lost the minute I left the airfield,but I did have the instructor with me!
Good luck
Lister:)

[pilotho]

i dont actually get lost its just that the way i get back on track is called crawling and thats not allowed in the skills test. guess i have got bad habits before i am qualified!!

the only problem i have got is knowing the correct or approved method to use. i dont tend to use the 1 in 60 rule cause it usually takes me ages to work out how many degrees i should correct.

how about, noting how long you have been flying off track and then doubling that degree to the opposite direction for that amount of time.

eg
hdg should be 360 but have flown 004 for 3mins, therefore fly 356 for 3 mins. that allowed?

[FlyingForFun]

There are many different ways of getting back on track.

Here's the one I teach my students. But it is harder to explain in words something which is essentially pictoral, so you really ought to discuss this with your instructor.

First of all, you have to do the preparation on the ground. Draw "10 degree" lines on your chart - on either one side or both sides of your planned track, draw another line which starts in the same place as your planned track but is 10 degrees off. Make sure you do this in a different colour to your planned track, so you don't confuse the two.

Then, when airborne, get to your start point, turn, start the stopwatch, and do any r/t necessary (turn, time, talk). At regular (but not too frequent) intervals, you will then fix your position by checking your stopwatch, figuring out how far along your track you expect to be, looking on your chart for features which should be ahead or to the side of you, then locating those features out of the window. If I understand your question correctly, you are already happy with all of this.

What I think you are asking is what to if you manage to fix your position as being slightly off of your planned track?

Let's have an example: your planned track is 054, your planned heading is 044. After 7 minutes, you fix your position as being overhead a small town which is actually slightly to the left of your planned track.

Using your 10-degree line which you drew before you started, you can easily see how far off track you are. For example, if the town you are overhead is just less than half way between your planned track and your 10-degree line, you are maybe 4 degrees off track. (If you've only drawn 10-degree lines on one side of your planned track, but you are off track on the other side, you can visually see where the mirror image of your 10-degree line is.)

Now, to get back on track, turn right by double the track error; in this case, your track error is 4 degrees, so turn right by 8 degrees, onto a new heading of 052.

It's taken you 7 minutes of getting off track before you made this correction, so it's going to take another 7 minutes to get back on track. Therefore, once your stopwatch shows you've been flying for 14 minutes total, you should be back on track.

If you were to turn back onto your original heading of 044 now, you would start going off track again. (The wind was such that you went off track using this heading before, so unless the wind has changed in the last few minutes there's no reason you won't go off track on this heading again.) So, instead of removing all of your correction and going back to your original heading, remove just half of the 8 degrees of correction that you added - this will give you a new heading of 048, which should be good right the way to your destination or turning point.

Of course, you should also note down any heading changes on your plog. So the notes on your plog will read something like: "Time 7, hdg 052", "Time 14, hdg 048".

Like I said, far easier to explain with pictures than words, so I hope what I've written makes sense. Also bear in mind that there are many many other ways of doing this, so speak to your instructor and to other pilots, and pick a method you like.

FFF
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[pilotho]

that is actually quite clear, thanks

so after the correction, i should just fly the new heading of hlaf the correction so to speak all the way to the turning point?

also i have read that if you get lost, you would fail the exam, however if i am unsure about position, could i still use radio aids or ask ATC vectors?

[FlyingForFun]

so after the correction, i should just fly the new heading of hlaf the correction so to speak all the way to the turning point?That's the theory. And for the length of leg which you'll do for your skills test, and for the kind of flying you'll do soon after your skills test, it'll work fine. As you build experience and start flying further, you might find you need to make further corrections on longer legs, but you'll hopefully have the experience to deal with that once you start flying distances where it becomes important.also i have read that if you get lost, you would fail the exam, however if i am unsure about position, could i still use radio aids or ask ATC vectors?My gut feeling on this one is No. If you are unsure of your position, use the techniques you have been taught (identify an area on the chart where you could reasonably be, then read from ground to chart to fix your position within that area) to fix your position. I'm not 100% certain that using nav-aids or asking ATC for help is a fail (after all, this is what you should do after your skills test if reading from ground to map doesn't help), I'd have to check with an examiner to be certain, but I wouldn't recommend it on a skills test. The examiner needs to see that you can navigate using ded reckoning combined with map-reading, so you need to make sure you show him that that's the case.

FFF
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[Mike Cross]

Anuvver useful pre-flight thing:-

Take your calculated g/s from your PLOG, let's say it's 95 kt. Mark off tenths of this along your intended track (in this example make a mark every 9.5 n.m). It will take you six minutes between the marks so, knowing the time you started it's easy to work out where you ought to be now and look for landmarks.

Make sure that early on you work out whether you are being drifted to right or left and apply a small correction to your heading, if you're being drifted left add a few degrees, or subtract a few if drifting right.

What you don't want to do is make a large alteration to regain track. For example you expect to pass one mile to the left of a landmark. When you identify it it's four miles in your 3 o'clock. Turning 90 degrees to regain your track will disorientate you and slow you down. Knowing the distance to your destination/turning point you can use the 1 in 60 rule. Your error is 3 miles so if your destination/turning point is 30 miles away you need to alter by 6 degrees (twice as much as if it were 60 miles away) if it's 15 miles to run you need 12 degrees and it's easy enough to guess for something in between.

It's also easy enough to mapread, by the time you're halfway your error should have halved.

Another useful technique
If you are on-track (which you WILL be at your departure point) and you can see a landmark ahead of you that is also on track, pick something that is directly between you and it. Could be a wood, a distinctive field, anything fixed, and keep it lined up with your landmark. If it starts to drift out of alignment adjust your heading to bring it back. When it's stable and not drifting right or left you are flying directly along your intended track. Check your heading and compare it with your PLOG to see whether the forecast and your calculations are accurate.

Mike

[funfly]

Using thick clear plastic, make a wedge about 6" long with a 20 degree angle. Mark a line down the centre so that you now have 10 degrees iether side of the line. Put your name on it so it doen't get nicked.

Makes it soooo easy to draw your ten degree fan lines on your chart - just place the centre line of the wedge on your plog line and mark the 10 degrees iether side.

[RatherBeFlying]

The 10 degree line and rule of 60 methods are commonly taught and seem to satisfy examiners. However the only time I drew the 10 degree lines was for my flight tests.

I just do what Mike Cross does:If you are on-track (which you WILL be at your departure point) and you can see a landmark ahead of you that is also on track, pick something that is directly between you and it. Could be a wood, a distinctive field, anything fixed, and keep it lined up with your landmark. If it starts to drift out of alignment adjust your heading to bring it back. When it's stable and not drifting right or left you are flying directly along your intended track. Check your heading and compare it with your PLOG to see whether the forecast and your calculations are accurate.The examiner can't ask for a correction if you're never off track:E :E :E

[BEagle]

I can't believe that these questions are being asked....

What technique have you been taught?

I suggest you ask a FI for some proper instruction before your test, otherwise you will certainly fail.

[SkyHawk-N]

Now, if you had a GPS ...... :E

[FlyingForFun]

BEagle - couldn't agree more.

RatherBeFlying,The examiner can't ask for a correction if you're never off trackFor a PPL, that would be sufficient, but for CPL you can't change your heading from what you've planned without a good reason derived from a recognised method.....!!!

FFF
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