Dear Rod:
I'm a student pilot who is preparing for my knowledge exam. My instructor wants me to use the E6B manual computer but I'd like to buy one of the electronic types. Is there any real benefit to learning with the E6B?
Sincerely,
Brad
Greetings Brad:
Yes, there are several benefits to the E6B. It doesn't use batteries. You can see it during the day and at night in normal cockpit lighting. You can calculate on an E6B as quickly as anyone with an electronic computer. You can actually see how the wind affects your airplane since it uses the "wind triangle" concept. You can sit on it and not break it. You can swat flies with it. You can fan yourself with it. Finally, and I think most important, the E6B makes you smart in that it keeps your head in the game when calculating.
Anyone who has ever used a slide rule (that's someone over age 55) knows that you have to have a ballpark idea of the answer you're looking for before deriving a more precise answer to your calculation. That's because slide rules don't do decimal points. In other words, when determining your groundspeed on an E6B, if you traveled 60 miles in 30 minutes, the "12" value the rate indicator points to isn't 12 mph or 1,200 mph. It's 120 mph. Using an E6B engages your noggin and makes it less likely that you'll mindlessly accept a wrong answer that results from pushing buttons on your electronic calculator.
The fact that calculating the wind correction angle on your E6B (with a pencil) results in a visible wind triangle makes this device worth all the bling-bling in Motown. Imagine, you can actually see the symbolic wind vector that's operating on your airplane! Now that's a great learning tool.
I'm a big fan of the E6B for basic training. After you've developed some fidelity with it, then move up to whatever electronic version tickles your fancy.
Helping a student find his way
Dear Rod:
I'm a relatively new CFI with a primary student who has a little more than 40 hours of dual received, with 60 hours total time. The problem is, he had three previous instructors and still cannot do cross-country flight planning, much less get us to an airport without getting lost. If I coach him and get him near our destination, he still can't find the airport. This was the same problem the other three instructors had with him. None felt comfortable signing him off for a solo cross-country flight.
Nothing about cross-country planning makes sense to him. He just can't get to the point where he can find an airport without getting us lost. He is a great pilot overall. And he bought a GPS and wants to use it on the cross-country. I keep telling him he has to learn pilotage and dead reckoning. So if there is any advice you could give me, I would greatly appreciate it. I would love to help him finish his private pilot.
Thanks,
Tom
Greetings Tom:
If I take what you say literally, then your student's problem is intractable. He's gone through three instructors, all of whom were unable to help him understand cross-country flight planning, and you're the fourth who's unable to do so. It sounds like he's beyond hope. Being the nice fellow you are, your desire to help him is certainly admirable, but it may be misplaced here. Since I know nothing about this person, I can only take the most objective of views in this matter. So here's what I suggest.
To keep you from feeling guilty about taking this fellow's money (and I suspect you will feel this way if you don't already), tell him that at this point you're not hopeful about his prospects of becoming a private pilot. After all, it's four strikes and you're out, right? Then tell him that you'll continue working with him for five more hours (or name a time you feel comfortable with) on his cross-country skills. Setting a time limit might provide the necessary motivation to nudge him off his permanent learning plateau (more like a permanent learning canyon). This assumes, of course, that on some level it's actually a lack of motivation that's hindering his ability to learn.
If he's ultimately untrainable in this area, setting a time limit helps both you and him find a graceful way to cease his flight training. And cease you must if you feel he's unable to navigate safely.
Now here's a scary thought. Suppose he doesn't acquire the necessary proficiency at navigation and you still recommend him for the checkride. Let's say he gets lucky and actually passes. If he does, and if he manages to vaporize himself and/or his passengers as a result of his inadequate cross-country skill, then you're the one the civil courts may hold liable. And this says nothing about the moral responsibility you have to keep him from doing so. Considering that you've taken on a student who didn't make the grade with three other instructors, this puts you in a less advantageous position for defending yourself in the event he ever bends or breaks an airplane or its occupants.
Ultimately, some folks are just not teachable in some, many, or all areas of skill. That's hard for some instructors to understand, because they sincerely want to help others learn to fly.
Calculating compass headings
Dear Rod:
I have a student who is dinging me about the formula for determining the compass heading. The formula that seems to be in every private pilot book and on the E6B is TC +/- WCA=TH +/- VAR=MH +/- DEV=CH. He wants to do TC +/- VAR=MC +/- DEV=CC +/- WCA=CH. Essentially he wants to put the wind correction angle last versus first. He claims that it dramatically shortens cross-country planning time because he can do everything the night before, then get the last-minute weather, plug in the WCA, and blast off. I actually see his point, and it makes sense. However, I have never seen it done that way. I have run a problem using both formulas and the compass heading comes out the same. Your thoughts, please.
Ms. Terry
Greetings Ms. Terry:
There's nothing wrong with finding the compass course (CC) the night before and applying a wind correction angle (WCA) as your student suggests.
The important thing to remember in using your student's method is that the WCA must be found by using the wind direction (given in true direction) and the true course (also measured in true direction). If your student tries to find the WCA by using the compass course (this is an angle measured with respect to the magnetic north pole and corrected for deviation) and the wind direction (measured with respect to the true north pole), he'll derive an incorrect value (which may, unfortunately, allow him to discover new and unexpected destinations). As long as he finds his WCA using the true course, his method is perfectly reasonable.
Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author, educator, and speaker. A pilot since 1970 and a CFI since 1973, he has flown more than 8,000 hours and is part owner of a Cessna P210. Visit his Web site
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