CRP-5 a requirement for PPL?
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Oxford
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I love my whizz wheel and have only recently started using anything else after 10 years of flying - Skydemon Light, in my case. And I have a circular and cylindrical slide rule (the latter is basically a mammoth straight slide rule wrapped around a cylinder and is very accurate), although I belong to the first generation at school to be given electronic calculators instead. (My teacher actually handed out slide rules then collected them back in as the syllabus had changed!)
On the other hand we do need to move with the times. I'd be happy to see use of electronic calculators/E6b in exams, but I'd like to see mandatory mental arithmetic as well. On my first BFR after getting my piggyback US licence, my grey-haired instructor was appalled to discover how poor my mental skills were and gave me a brisk grounding in calculating wind drift based on rules of thumb - which I've never forgotten. (All done airborne, just to add to the workload!) If you do a mental calculation as a 'sense check' then electronic calculators are fine.
Tim
On the other hand we do need to move with the times. I'd be happy to see use of electronic calculators/E6b in exams, but I'd like to see mandatory mental arithmetic as well. On my first BFR after getting my piggyback US licence, my grey-haired instructor was appalled to discover how poor my mental skills were and gave me a brisk grounding in calculating wind drift based on rules of thumb - which I've never forgotten. (All done airborne, just to add to the workload!) If you do a mental calculation as a 'sense check' then electronic calculators are fine.
Tim
I really like my CR5. Small (a hell of a lot smaller than those abysmal CRPs the UK establishment is so fond of), fits in most pockets, never runs out of batteries, accurate (enough to get through Oz IR & ATPL, UK ATPL & US ATP), faster than a calculator for some calculations and eliminates the iterative process that the slide types use in the 'wind down' method. Compared to the CRP-5 some Mach no. problems require fewer steps to solve. Even though the aircraft I fly have avionics up the wazoo, mine lives in my flight bag so I know I'll always have a nav. calculator available no matter what fails in the aircraft.
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Glasgow
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Just for the sake of clarity:
CRP = Pooley's version; ARC = AFE version; E6-B = ASA version; TPS = Transair version
CRP-1 ; ARC-1; E6-B; "Jeppesen Slide Graphic Computer"; TPS-1
Designed for Private pilots - the CRP-1 is the standard everything else is compared to. CRP-1 & ARC-1 are essentially the same with all the features of the others; E6-B and the Jeppesen one are (I believe) missing some metric / imperial conversions which can be useful as they are designed for the US market. E6-B comes in multiple materials and sizes (which all do the same thing).
CRP-1W ; TPS-1 with wind arm
As above but with wind arm which some people prefer. It saves needing to use a pencil to work out winds
CRP-4
A budget CRP-1, made of card instead of plastic and missing the rotating cursor on the computer side.
CRP-5; ARC-2; TPS-2
The upgraded version of the CRP-1 / ARC-1 for "Professional" pilots. If you plan on going commercial, get one of these. They are larger, so can be more accurate, and they deal with the higher speeds required for commercial aviation. CRP-5 is the standard (certainly in UK). ARC-2 also includes the ability to do a couple more calculations but the ATPL exam questions are based on CRP-5 - and the answers you get with ARC-1 will be just slightly wrong...
CRP-5W
As CRP-5 but with wind arm. For the accuracy required at pro level, the wind arm is reputed to be not accurate enough so just gets in the way
CRP-8
This is designed for Microlight users and so deals more accurately with low speeds
There are other pooley flight computers but they aren't commonly used (such as CRP-6 or CRP-9)
Hope this helps!
CRP = Pooley's version; ARC = AFE version; E6-B = ASA version; TPS = Transair version
CRP-1 ; ARC-1; E6-B; "Jeppesen Slide Graphic Computer"; TPS-1
Designed for Private pilots - the CRP-1 is the standard everything else is compared to. CRP-1 & ARC-1 are essentially the same with all the features of the others; E6-B and the Jeppesen one are (I believe) missing some metric / imperial conversions which can be useful as they are designed for the US market. E6-B comes in multiple materials and sizes (which all do the same thing).
CRP-1W ; TPS-1 with wind arm
As above but with wind arm which some people prefer. It saves needing to use a pencil to work out winds
CRP-4
A budget CRP-1, made of card instead of plastic and missing the rotating cursor on the computer side.
CRP-5; ARC-2; TPS-2
The upgraded version of the CRP-1 / ARC-1 for "Professional" pilots. If you plan on going commercial, get one of these. They are larger, so can be more accurate, and they deal with the higher speeds required for commercial aviation. CRP-5 is the standard (certainly in UK). ARC-2 also includes the ability to do a couple more calculations but the ATPL exam questions are based on CRP-5 - and the answers you get with ARC-1 will be just slightly wrong...
CRP-5W
As CRP-5 but with wind arm. For the accuracy required at pro level, the wind arm is reputed to be not accurate enough so just gets in the way
CRP-8
This is designed for Microlight users and so deals more accurately with low speeds
There are other pooley flight computers but they aren't commonly used (such as CRP-6 or CRP-9)
Hope this helps!
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: northwest uk
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I agree that a picture in the minds eye is exactly what a student needs but i don't see how the whizz wheel teaches you anything,
I remember being taught how to work out pressure altitudes on the cr5 for the purpose of an exam but still to this day don't even know what a pressure altitude is or maybe i have forgotten.
It's still a form of calculator so why not just use an electronic 1 ?
I remember being taught how to work out pressure altitudes on the cr5 for the purpose of an exam but still to this day don't even know what a pressure altitude is or maybe i have forgotten.
It's still a form of calculator so why not just use an electronic 1 ?
I tell a lie - I have an ARC-2.
Mine doesn't actually have different fuels specified - just specific density which corresponds exactly to the number on the outer wheel.
It can vary by a few percent winter to summer, which is perhaps why they didn't want to go for specific figures.
Mine doesn't actually have different fuels specified - just specific density which corresponds exactly to the number on the outer wheel.
It can vary by a few percent winter to summer, which is perhaps why they didn't want to go for specific figures.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Plumpton Green
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I just wonder if my school expects me to know this instrument well, just before my exams? I had expected to have some kind of instruction in it?
Oh bother, that was 12 years ago now! What happened to all the moon bases we were supposed to have?
Back to the device itself - for PPL level, it really doesn't matter what model you use; for light aircraft flying, they're all good enough - although it helps a bit to have one with a reasonably low speed scale on the insert. Anything you bought on eBay will do.
Personally I think that the Pooleys CRP-1W is the best of the bunch for light aircraft flying, but there really is very little in it. One of the cheap £20 ones from Pooleys or ASA will still work well enough.
G
I have a Dalton Mk 4A and a 5A given to me by the Queen many years ago. I don't use either very much but they still remain the simplest way to do and demonstrate aviation calculations. Despite over 40 years in my bag they have never needed a new battery or failed to work. You do need to tighten the screws every 10 years. They have CARP, HALO and even a MEARS slide! I have never seen an APP to fulfil those functions.
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: UK,Twighlight Zone
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They have CARP, HALO and even a MEARS slide! I have never seen an APP to fulfil those functions.
Join Date: Jul 2010
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I have two, used to be three but the fancy plastic one didn't last long before I had to throw it away. The remaining ones are metal. One is an old E6-B in my flight bag and self-marked with various ratios that had been missing, the other, similarly marked, is in the airplane bag as a spare.
They are quick to use, the analog representation avoids errors like swapped digits, they never break and don't require power.
The ability to extrapolate is very useful in GA. Exact figures are less important than placing things correctly in relation to each other. Digital calculation is exact but removed from the scale on which life can vary. A dial with a pointer on a scale says more than a number. For that reason alone I'd recommend using the E6-B and its variants. But then I'm oldfashioned and fly in a cockpit full of steam gauges and distrust FADECs and other electronic devices telling me that things are safe.
They are quick to use, the analog representation avoids errors like swapped digits, they never break and don't require power.
The ability to extrapolate is very useful in GA. Exact figures are less important than placing things correctly in relation to each other. Digital calculation is exact but removed from the scale on which life can vary. A dial with a pointer on a scale says more than a number. For that reason alone I'd recommend using the E6-B and its variants. But then I'm oldfashioned and fly in a cockpit full of steam gauges and distrust FADECs and other electronic devices telling me that things are safe.
Pray tell, how often does the average PPL use those functions? Or in fact the average commercial pilot?
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Is that Nimoy pic a montage?
Very funny if it's real
Very funny if it's real
The CRP 5 is not necessary for PPL - you need a CRP 1 (less functions and quite a bit cheaper).
The CRP 5 is needed for ATPLS, as I'm finding out to my horror.....
