The Simpsons Desert!
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Flew the simpson earlier this year doing survey(200ft).Sometimes less is more??!just have to look at the big picture,the few dry lakes and tracks stand out like dogs b#!ls.If you get away early on the day(first glow of light)try flyin a bit lower & you'll be suprised by the amount of wildlife....30+ camels in one mob i've seen & they are HUGE(see them from 2 k's away).
PI
PI
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Yer...and fecking bumpy below 10000' in the summer take multi barf bags.
Sprucegoose
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Yes! Make sure that you do the trip in an aircraft of Tiger Moth vintage, and tear a page out of an old atlas for your map. Anything else won't make you a "real" pilot.
Come on guys, this is 2006!!!
The greatest advance in general aviation in the last 30 years (I speak with some authority cause I have been flying that long) is GPS - use it.
Sure - keep a dead-reckoning/map reading back up, but why would you fly in the most isolated part of Australia without using the latest technology at your disposal?
I did Longreach-Birdsville-Alice Springs-Ayers Rock a couple of weeks ago - great trip.
What is the point of clever people inventing this stuff if we don't use it???
R
Come on guys, this is 2006!!!
The greatest advance in general aviation in the last 30 years (I speak with some authority cause I have been flying that long) is GPS - use it.
Sure - keep a dead-reckoning/map reading back up, but why would you fly in the most isolated part of Australia without using the latest technology at your disposal?
I did Longreach-Birdsville-Alice Springs-Ayers Rock a couple of weeks ago - great trip.
What is the point of clever people inventing this stuff if we don't use it???
R
However, it's all about challenging yourself!
If you are going to do a fly away exercise as part of your commercial licence, why not get something out of it. I see far too many pilots who are so skilled at following a line on a screen, that when they come to my company, some with up to 3000 hours, they can't hold a constant heading. Now as we have no autopilot and rely on our hand flying skills, it annoys the passengers (and me) as they just meander back and forth chasing the CDI on the GPS. The easiest way for me to wind someone up during line training, is to turn of the GPS.
As a pilot I have a keen interest in navigation, I myself am learning celestial navigation, not because I long for days gone by, but because I am keen to learn as much as I can about my chosen profession. After all GPS uses the same theory as celestial navigation, except the heavenly bodies have been replaced by man made sattelites. Not to mention the same GPS also uses time/distance (ie: dead reckoning).
So what is the problem with fine tuning your navigation skills? After all that is one of the reasons for a fly away in the first place...
PS: I also fly with an up to date WAC chart!
PPS: Apologies to the topic starter for the thread drift...
Yeah, use the GPS as little as possible. They're a wonderful device, but knowing how to navigate using your brain, map & watch is a great thing - to skip too many opportunities to learn it properly is like saying, bugger it, why bother to learn to add up - there's always a calculator handy!
Good sense of achievement when you can make your way across the gafa with just the basics.
Good sense of achievement when you can make your way across the gafa with just the basics.
Join Date: Jun 2006
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OK Howie - point taken, I am appropriately chastened!!
The ability to hold a constant heading is one of the fundamental skills of a pilot that I have taken for granted for many years - courtesy of the outstanding instructors that I have been privileged to fly with.
But damn that George/GNS430 duo can fly a mean straight line (... across the Simpson Desert)!
Cheers
R
The ability to hold a constant heading is one of the fundamental skills of a pilot that I have taken for granted for many years - courtesy of the outstanding instructors that I have been privileged to fly with.
But damn that George/GNS430 duo can fly a mean straight line (... across the Simpson Desert)!
Cheers
R
Last edited by Ratshit; 24th Oct 2006 at 08:22. Reason: Needed to tie a knot in the thread!
I think both sides of the GPS/anti-GPS fence are correct. The GPS really is the best advance in nav. since the compass. However, competent navigating is more than just following a GPS indication. There are fundamental skills that need to be learnt and blindly following a GPS isn't one of them.
I like the calculator vs. learning how to do addition analogy. Does anyone advocate dropping addition from a maths syllabus now that calculators are ubiquitous?
I like the calculator vs. learning how to do addition analogy. Does anyone advocate dropping addition from a maths syllabus now that calculators are ubiquitous?
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I haven't been involved in instructing for more that 20 years, but I would have thought that the basic skills of navigation would be taught (and learnt) during the PPL or whatever it is called these days (the equivalent of primary school).
The original post said "I am doing a diploma of aviation, and my class is about to set off of a "Round Australia trip- Multi Crew exercise"".
Surely someone at this level should have the basic skills and be now looking to develop and polish "tertiary" level skills - like utilizing all of the technology available to complete a flight with the minimum of fuss and bother.
R
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Surely someone at this level should have the basic skills and be now looking to develop and polish "tertiary" level skills
That said, they could be more 'advanced & tertiary level'... but I'm bettingt hese guys are still in the stage where they want to learn as much as possible!!
Sky
Hey Tin, are the drink's (in most cases should be referring to carton's of your favourite lager?) to sit on the side of the highway with until the next car comes along?
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Actually a lot of the Dip. Av students start out with PPL (or none!!) and work their way up to CPL/ATPL over the next 3 or 4 years.. at least, those that I've met have all been doing it that way... so possibly these guys in the poster's class might only recently have been let loose on their own in aircraft.. in which case, this is a fab opportunity for them to 'fine tune' their nav skills... as earlier posters have said, I'd rather already know how to navigate with hte bare minimum than be under pressure to figure it out when the GPS goes bung in the middle of the gafa..!
That said, they could be more 'advanced & tertiary level'... but I'm bettingt hese guys are still in the stage where they want to learn as much as possible!!
Sky
That said, they could be more 'advanced & tertiary level'... but I'm bettingt hese guys are still in the stage where they want to learn as much as possible!!
Sky
There are about 8 of us going on this trip, 6 students and 2 instructors. The instructors are coming as PASSENGERS ONLY, so they will not be PIC. For the most part, the 6 students, including myself, have only just aquired our PPL's in the last 3 months, and have about 100 - 110 hours each. Some less, some more. some with NVFR, Some without. The excercise is to train us professionally, and to fine tune our navigation skills. the only people on board that have a GPS will be the 2 instructors!. I think this is great because, why not increase your knowledge and efficiency on the basics. GPS is a luxury!, which i cant afford
, however im sure that if anything major were to go wrong, i dont think our passengers would be wanting to spend a night(s) out in the desert and may just tap us on the shoulder. But i do believe this will be a very satisfying and confidence building exercise, and a hell of a lot of fun.I think i will probably brief my FO around 4 30 in the morning and set out just after BOD, ooooh yeah!. I have all current maps, and we should all be set to leave on Monday. First stop Broken Hill!
thanks heaps everyone
matt
PS. also just in regards to "sky" my diploma actually only goes for a year, including either ATPL, or Instructor rating
although its a busy one
Sprucegoose
Join Date: Sep 2000
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If you get a chance drop into Dalhousie Springs (thermal pools) although they are probably better in winter as the water temp is around 40C.
Enjoy your trip and let us know what you liked!
A couple of tips given to me when I was bashing round western QLD - ignore most roads because a lot of them are temporary, and what looks like a road may be a survey line. Creek beds on the other hand are fairly permanent, and are (were) accurately depicted on my WAC of 20 or so years ago. As RENURRP said, the lack of features will be to your advantage: if there is a lake or a hill it's probably the only one for miles.
The other one is to fly a few degrees either side of course if you are aiming for a point, usually not correcting for wind, but if there is none, or a head/tailwind, you choose. As described in Chickenhawk: "Off course navigation, you don't correct for wind drift, just fly your magnetic track for the length of time calculated, then when the time is up you fly upwind to find it."
The other one is to fly a few degrees either side of course if you are aiming for a point, usually not correcting for wind, but if there is none, or a head/tailwind, you choose. As described in Chickenhawk: "Off course navigation, you don't correct for wind drift, just fly your magnetic track for the length of time calculated, then when the time is up you fly upwind to find it."
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