Pilot Pens for Pilot - with 10 mile scale

[tiggermoth]

I bought some of these pens in the US, but I saw them in WH Smith today as well (£2.49 for two). So what's the big deal? Not terribly exciting I know, but, the rubber grip on the pen measures exactly 10 miles on the 1:500 000 charts (and naturally yes, 5 miles on the 1:250 000 charts). It saves scoring a pencil with lines on I suppose.

PILOT G-2 (Gel ink, Rollerball, Retractable)


PS It manages to write too.

[tiggermoth]

I'm not flogging them, I've now got a lifetime supply of 10 mile pens (until my wife starts using them)! They might stop selling them..

Just go into your local friendly stationers (WH Smith, Staples, Office World, RS McColl [are they still going?] etc), and they'd be happy to exchange £1.25 for one. Also a good source of pens is the back of sofas, just have a check to see if there is a Pilot G-2 there.

T.

[BRL]

Interesting. I didn't now about the rubber bit being ten miles!

I have hundreds of these pens in our office at work.
Got loads of them spare in my crew bag and dotted all around the house.

I think I will put them on ebay in the pilots section for a fiver!!!!!!!

[tiggermoth]

Hey BRL - that's great - that's a good idea for you- no make them at least £15 each - that's how aviation appears to be at times! It's quite ironic that Pilot pens have some naviagation use for pilots!

I'm going to be looking out for other common items that we might take into the cockpit that might just happen to scale things. (I wonder if the plug on a David Clark headset is 20 nm to scale.... what about a width of an A4 sheet of paper...or the Piper logo on the control column.... etc.)

SoCal - I read about the bent thumb bit in Jeremy Pratt's book (I think), and my thumb isn't quite exactly to scale to 10nm, and I find it a bit tricky to try and measure more than 18nm (using two thumbs!).

[tiggermoth]

Yes - I suppose my stubby thumbs are accurate enough for my flying! I struggle getting more than two thumb's worth without losing my place.

[the_daddy]

I have a few of these pens/rulers(!) in my bag courtesy of the office

Best thing I find to keep the bugger to hand is clip it to the over-shoulder seat-belt strap when not in use... Always where you need it and not falling to the floor! But remember to keep it clicked off otherwise the inevitable black-striped T-shirt design begins to appear...

Works for me - although one more thing to remember to remove in an emergency! Ouch!

[Whirlybird]

For many years I've been reading about all these ways of map measuring - bent thumbs, pens, etc etc - with something resembling amazement. I find I can simply estimate ten miles pretty accurately, without a specific measuring device. For anything up to 100 nm or so I'm accurate enough for all practical purposes. I've always been able to do this. I put it down to loads of walking using OS maps in my misspent youth before I discovered aviation.

Am I really the only person who can do this?

[batninth]

Whirls

I find I can simply estimate ten miles pretty accurately, without a specific measuring device

It would be interesting to see if you do this by reference to know points, or it is a generic skill. What I'm thinking here is that you probably have a good geographic knowledge, so when you look at a map I wonder if you can determine two points you already know about and can then deduce other distances from that reference. For example Boston to Donnington in Lincolnshire is 12 miles, so if I looked at a map of the Fens I could find them and then use that spacing to work out other distances on the map.

I'm not saying it is, just wondering if anyone else has any background here on spacial reasoning?

[formationfoto]

surely most of us are capable of estimating short distances to a resonable length of accuracy. Try it. Estimate six inches or twelve inches. You will probably be no more than 5% out (obviously women and men see six inches differently!).

Given this we should be able to estimate 10 miles on a half mil. Distance between two known points is also a useful confirmation as is using the minute divisions on the latitude scale.

visual estimation is not appropriate for flight planning but for in cockpit plan changes or the like should be adequate for all - even without a thumb or Pilot pen. Having said that all aids are worth knowing about.

The increasing use of GPS in vehicles has had a significant impact on the ability of the population at large to estimate distances and directions. I wonder whether something similar has happened with the aviation community?

[Cusco]

I've tried these pens and have given up on them as the rubber bit which is causing all the excitement is quite a bit fatter than most pens/pencils and the friction caused by said rubber makes it impossible to get it into the fabric pencil holders on some kneeboards and a struggle to get it into the expanding spring variety of pencil holder.

I've gone back to the pencil and thumb method.

Safe flying

Cusco

[tiggermoth]

Yes, the rubber bit is thicker than most, and yes I agree it didn't fit in my old knee board either. (I've since made my own knee board from an A4 clipboard and non-slip rubber material, but that's another story!)

[Whirlybird]

It would be interesting to see if you do this by reference to know points

No, I don't do that. I simply estimate an inch. I used to do it on OS maps, where it represented a mile, for years and years. Now I do the same thing on half mil charts, but it's 10 miles. I simply count, using the tip of my finger along a line, or even without a line. I'm always pretty close.

As formationfoto says, surely most of us are capable of doing this. And personally I think it's far easier for in-cockpit diversions or similar than messing about with measuring devices such as pens or thumbs. Also for rough estimates...shall we fly there tomorrow? Roughly how long will it take? Let's see, I make it about 110 - 120 miles...that sort of thing.

I really can't believe that no-one else does this!

[englishal]

Thanks for the tip.....I have just noticed we use them at work (and there is one here on my desk ) So I think I may have to procure a box of them....

[matelot]

Whirlybird is right IMO: flying is an environment in which you ought to expect the unexpected, under pain of... severe pain if it all goes mammaries up.

e.g. divert NOW, NOW, NOW. Damn, pencil's bust, can't find this, that and t'other. Where's me whizzy thingy - can't reach my flight bag on the back seat. ATC 'Orbit, there's a ... in your 12 o'clock same alt...'

'Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring, don't panic...!'

I'm currently working on 'immediate' diversions, estimating track and distance, or mentally calculating distance off track of alternate/distance to alternate x 6 (to give angle from current track [forget decimals]).

Although I've several marked pencils, and a thumb of 10nm, and a whizzy-git, and charts, the challenge is doing it down to absolute basics when put 'on the spot'.

I'd also like to think I've got a life!

[Whirlybird]

matelot,

Another thing that's useful is to try to navigate without actually drawing a line on your map. It's more necessary for helicopter pilots, since if you're flying an R22 solo you don't really have a free hand to start drawing lines if you need to divert. But I reckon it's a useful exercise anyway....next time you're bored.....

[matelot]

What line? What map?

[englishal]

e.g. divert NOW, NOW, NOW. Damn, pencil's bust, can't find this, that and t'other. Where's me whizzy thingy - can't reach my flight bag on the back seat. ATC 'Orbit, there's a ... in your 12 o'clock same alt...'

Direct To, Enter, Enter

[BEagle]

Direct To, Enter, Enter

And hello, Luton!