plans vs sat nav
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: South-East, United Kingdom
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I have had my license for about 5 years. Over time you will fine tune your own methods depending on the hardware and software resources available to you, and your comfort in using (or trusting) them.
For me, I always carry a CAA chart. If I am going outside my local area I always draw lines on it and circle any danger areas, gliding sites and airspace level changes. I tend to draw routes that can make use of VOR tracks in case I need to fly IMC.
I do carry a PLOG but dont bother with wind / drift calculations or leg timings like I did pre-license - I draw the wind direction and speed on my chart and calculate the max drift angle so I can make rough calculations. I do use the PLOG for listing OCAS levels I can fly at, as it helps me with my planning. I also list a radar service I might be able to call up if I need it (saves having to flick through pages of paper, or hunt for numbers on the chart). My PLOG also has frequencies pre-printed for airports in the vicinity of my local area.
For navigation though, I do prefer to load up a route into my Garmin GNS430, and cross reference on a NATS aware. I do that mostly so I can enjoy the flying and the views, and not having to spend ages with my head down in the cockpit and worring about leg timings etc... I have an iPad 2 and have memory map and air nav pro, but as a P1 personally I think it encourages too much head down activity either looking at it, or changing views on it and stuff. I guess thats the advantage of panel mounted GPS's - at least your head is up and has a bit more peripheral vision. I still have my map and PLOG to fall back on if that stuff goes t*ts up.
For me, I always carry a CAA chart. If I am going outside my local area I always draw lines on it and circle any danger areas, gliding sites and airspace level changes. I tend to draw routes that can make use of VOR tracks in case I need to fly IMC.
I do carry a PLOG but dont bother with wind / drift calculations or leg timings like I did pre-license - I draw the wind direction and speed on my chart and calculate the max drift angle so I can make rough calculations. I do use the PLOG for listing OCAS levels I can fly at, as it helps me with my planning. I also list a radar service I might be able to call up if I need it (saves having to flick through pages of paper, or hunt for numbers on the chart). My PLOG also has frequencies pre-printed for airports in the vicinity of my local area.
For navigation though, I do prefer to load up a route into my Garmin GNS430, and cross reference on a NATS aware. I do that mostly so I can enjoy the flying and the views, and not having to spend ages with my head down in the cockpit and worring about leg timings etc... I have an iPad 2 and have memory map and air nav pro, but as a P1 personally I think it encourages too much head down activity either looking at it, or changing views on it and stuff. I guess thats the advantage of panel mounted GPS's - at least your head is up and has a bit more peripheral vision. I still have my map and PLOG to fall back on if that stuff goes t*ts up.
Join Date: May 2001
Location: 75N 16E
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I rarely draw on my chart these days. I plan the flight on skydemon, print out a PLOG and a couple of A4 maps, and then use the same waypoints that I used in Skydemon in the Garmin Aera. I try to use IFR reporting points so that I can also bung the route into the 430W, though that is not always possible for a VFR flight.
I do try to remember to update the take off time on the PLOG, just in case, but employ pilotage to make sure I am where the GPS thinks I am, in case we lost GPS.
If there are VORs/DME enroute I'd also tune them in.
I do try to remember to update the take off time on the PLOG, just in case, but employ pilotage to make sure I am where the GPS thinks I am, in case we lost GPS.
If there are VORs/DME enroute I'd also tune them in.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 18nm NE grice 28ft up
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Beware of anything using a Jeppeson database. Loads of smaller airfields, glider sites and parachute sites missing. It may also have you avoiding non existant restricted areas.
D.O.
D.O.
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Northumberland
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GPS Jamming
Sorry for the thread drift but has anybody encountered any in-flight nav problems with the latest batch of GPS jamming trials?
It was historically the case that these trials were held either in the far W of Wales or the far NW of Scotland. Last year there was a big fuss made by the Scottish fishermen whose GPSs were jammed and the Scottish trials were cancelled.
Since then we've seen them at Spadeadum D510 and now there's this one scheduled in D208:
REF: H0524/12 From: 2012-Mar-26 Mon 07:00 To: 2012-Mar-30 Fri 16:00
Schedule: 0700-1600
ICAO: EGTT SFC to 40000FT AMSL
GROUND AND GPS JAMMING WI 54NM RADIUS OF 5229N 00045E (STANFORD
TRAINING AREA, CAMBRIDGESHIRE). AIC P 009/2012 REFERS. CTC 0207453
6530/6535 OR STANTA RANGE CONTROL 01842 855235. 12-03-0017/AS 4
Surely it is irresponsible to carry out these 'trials' beneath or close to such busy pieces of airspace?
It was historically the case that these trials were held either in the far W of Wales or the far NW of Scotland. Last year there was a big fuss made by the Scottish fishermen whose GPSs were jammed and the Scottish trials were cancelled.
Since then we've seen them at Spadeadum D510 and now there's this one scheduled in D208:
REF: H0524/12 From: 2012-Mar-26 Mon 07:00 To: 2012-Mar-30 Fri 16:00
Schedule: 0700-1600
ICAO: EGTT SFC to 40000FT AMSL
GROUND AND GPS JAMMING WI 54NM RADIUS OF 5229N 00045E (STANFORD
TRAINING AREA, CAMBRIDGESHIRE). AIC P 009/2012 REFERS. CTC 0207453
6530/6535 OR STANTA RANGE CONTROL 01842 855235. 12-03-0017/AS 4
Surely it is irresponsible to carry out these 'trials' beneath or close to such busy pieces of airspace?
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Dublin
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Beware of anything using a Jeppeson database. Loads of smaller airfields, glider sites and parachute sites missing. It may also have you avoiding non existant restricted areas.
Join Date: Jan 2011
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"If you really feel that way, I suggest a cure would be to attend one of the utterly gripping lectures put up by the Royal Institute of Navigation"
I tried attending one of these lectures, but couldn't find the venue
I tried attending one of these lectures, but couldn't find the venue
Join Date: Dec 2011
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Is the Jepp database really that bad? I knew that they were missing lots of the smaller airfields, but I hadn't heard before that they had non-existant restricted areas! That one is new on me!
(where apparently much of that airspace is active only by Notam - otherwise one look at that airspace would drive most people to do the IR
) and also I recall one bit over Italy.
Didn't they also recently show an NDB in Ireland, which had gone years before?
Ultimately, the accuracy of charts (and of flight planning software!) will be say 90-99% and the remainder will depend on how many pilots fly with it, and bother to flag up errors.
IMHO, very few people will bother to flag up errors to Jepp, in Europe, because very few people in Europe fly with the Jepp 1:500k "VFR/GPS" charts, and Jepps European customer service is atrocious. The biggest GA countries by far (UK, Germany, France) all publish their own high quality VFR charts. The German ones are also available electronically, within some pretty slick (German-only) flight planning software.
But if you want uniform representation over most of Europe, Jepp is the only option. They can also be found converted (scanned, probably) for Oziexplorer
Join Date: Feb 2002
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The German ones are also available electronically, within some pretty slick (German-only) flight planning software.
As for your Swiss example, I've come across some of those before where it wasn't possible to work out from the chart where the airspace went. (Had the same once or twice with the French IGN ones too!)
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 18nm NE grice 28ft up
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Dublinpilot,
Have a look at how Jepp depicts the Otterburn ranges. Strangely they then ignore the Filingdales avoid area.
I took a 45 minute flight this morning from Perth to Insch.
On route was Drumshade gliding club, Aboyne and of course Insch none of which are in their database.
D.O.
Have a look at how Jepp depicts the Otterburn ranges. Strangely they then ignore the Filingdales avoid area.
I took a 45 minute flight this morning from Perth to Insch.
On route was Drumshade gliding club, Aboyne and of course Insch none of which are in their database.
D.O.
