Temporarily unsure of position??

[Cat.S]

Did my first solo nav exercise last week, a five-legged route from, and returning to, Sleap. Visibility deteriorated quite badly on the last half of my route and was down to about 3-4nm in haze, the PA38 bumping around in the turbulence.The winds were well off those forecast and I decided, after the first two legs, to fly the course without adding wind factor, which gave me a much more accurate track. On the final leg from Whitchurch to Sleap I found myself over time, no sign of Sleap and couldn't even see Shawbury! Deciding to orbit I called Shawbury for a vector to Sleap and just as they gave it, saw Sleap two miles away on the nose.I felt rather foolish and a right navigational failure, but on reflection probably did the right thing. However, totally forgot that with wind not as forecast, my projected GS of 105kt was more like my TAS of 90kt, hence the late arrival. Dohh!!
Any other tales of 'temporarily unsure of position' out there for me to learn from and did I do the right thing in owning up?

[Kermit 180]

You did the right thing by aviating, navigating and lastly communicating and asking for help. I think everyone who's done a bit of flying has been temporarily disorientated at some stage in their careers, although some have been too proud to ask for help and usually become LOST or CRASH. Good on you.

Kermie ;)

[Lowtimer]

I did something very similar while trying to find Stradishall in Suffolk as a solo nav TP (it's disused, turned into one of HM Prisons, and you can' see much of the characteristic airfield shape any more). The nice man at Wattisham, whose MATZ I had recently crossed, didn't have it marked on his radar but was most happy to look it up on the road map (he said!) and give me a course to steer. I'm sure from the controller's point of view it's preferable to lend a hand than have someone who's lost blundering around unpredictably near your airspace.

[Aeropig1]

Lowtimer/cats - I think most have had that'where am I' feeling. can only support the comments that you did the right thing after all you got back safely and what else is LARS for if not to help you. All part of the learning curve that makes it an enjoyable challenge.

[ 20 August 2001: Message edited by: Aeropig1 ]

[FlyingForFun]

Cat, congrats, you did the right thing. Just about everyone I've spoken to has had a similar experience.

I was lucky - mine was with an instructor on board. Not my regular instructor, who'd been snowed in while visiting his parents in Newcastle - this was another instructor who I knew, but had never flown with before.

Our intended track took us between two small airfields. I saw one off to my left, and told my instructor "there's XXX". He looked at his chart, and said he thought it was YYY, which should have been off to our right. Well, being the ignorant student, I of course believed my instructor. But if airfield YYY was on our left, that meant we were way off course.

I planned a course correction, flew it, and then found myself approaching a large town. Strange, since there weren't supposed to be large towns anywhere near my track. We orbited, and my instructor spent several minutes looking out of the window, then at his chart, then back out the window, and eventually identified the town as Oxford.

Turns out I was right about the airfield we'd passed - it was XXX. Therefore, the course correction I'd made had not been necessary, and had actually taken us well off the intended course. But having an instructor sat besides me looking very confused really helped me understand how to identify your position by looking out the window.

The instructor apoligised to me the next day. He explained he was very hung over, and he really should not have been flying at all that day. Credit to him for admitting it, but I never flew with him again.

Anyway, well handled cat - the system is there for you to use, and you used it.

FFF
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[Tricky Woo]

Well done for sorting it out, (and congratulations of your Nav Ex, which I'm sure you're also quite proud of). There are a good few pilots who would rather circle for hours, until their fuel runs out, rather than admit that they're lost.

TW

[englishal]

don't forget you have VORs/DME and NBDs which you can use to draw a fix on your chart so you know where you are ! (assuming you have any in range). Very useful for confirming a position !

[burp]

And don't forget you also have D&D on 121.5mhz to help as well.

Never, ever be afraid to call them to ask for help in locating your position. They have quite a sophisticated mapping system now which is CD-ROM based. With a good fix they can tell you exactly where you are.

B.