Kicking it old school

Matthew

Matthew

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Apr 18, 2005
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Matthew
I stopped at the FBO this afternoon. I wanted to copy a w&b page from an airplane I recently began renting. That only took a minute, and I had a free afternoon and my kneeboard, so I pulled out a sectional, my E6b, and a pencil and planned an XC just for fun. Two CFIs stopped by and gazed in wonder and amazement that anyone still had pencil and paper and knew how to use them.
 
I still draw lines on sectionals and highlight them, and make a list of nearby airports, WX and VOR frequencies for each flight.mthen I scribble all of my frequency changes (and altitudes if IFR) on it as I fly along. Makes it easy to check weather ahead, and keep my mental map updated as I fly along.
 
Matthew said:
I...Two CFIs stopped by and gazed in wonder and amazement that anyone still had pencil and paper and knew how to use them.
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I have an instrument rating and a fancy Ipad...that usually stays in my flight bag, while I pull out my kneeboard, mini legal pad, and paper charts....I like your style
 
Who does such a thing these days?

I used a paper chart on my last XC. Not quite obsolete yet in my book, but thank goodness for ForeFlight. :D
 
Ryanb said:
Who does such a thing these days?
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I do! Sure, the 430WAAS does the heavy lifting, but I like to follow along on the sectional. It also let's me look forward in detail, or off to the side. Yes, I have an iPad and a Samsung tablet, but my paper chart has yet to have it's batteries run down, while lately my iPad can run down in just a couple of hours. So many EFBs are power hogs, and when I try to zoom in and read the little writing, the writing automatically zooms back out to the same tiny size . . .

I also keep blank paper on my kneeboard to write on--handoff frequencies, clearance routes, altitudes climbing and descending, etc. two pens live in the plane in case I don't have one on me, and the sectionals live there, too, ready to go at a moment's notice. I left my GPS card at home once when I was updating it, but I made my flight anyway, even with dodging some weather and getting off my planned route. No problemo!

Can you make a roundtrip flight (farther than you can see from the departure end of the runway) without your tablet and EFB? If not, do you carry it with you all the time? Or run home and get it and make your buddy wait, who calls you to make a lunch run while you're in the hardware store?
 
I like having the charts for the "big picture". I can fly along direct-to and follow the magenta line of doom. but part of the fun of flying is navigation. I can let a GPS do it for me and calculate and display all the ETA/ETE, course, speed, and everything else numbers. Or I can exercise my brain, tick off landmarks, note the time, and calculate all that myself. Yeah, maybe if I flew a lot of IFR or for business I'd use the EFB. But when I fly for fun, which is all the time, many times I want to do it myself.
 
same here... pen and paper. because that's how the old timers way back did it.
 
Like to do long cross countries,can't be carrying all the weight associated with paper. For now I'll stick with foreflight and my Garmin 530/430.
 
frfly172 said:
Like to do long cross countries,can't be carrying all the weight associated with paper. For now I'll stick with foreflight and my Garmin 530/430.
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How much does two sectionals weigh? I'd put them well below the one pound threshold.

My longest flight completed this way was West to Yellowstone, seems like that trip was across four sectionals and 1320 nm each way.

Now I generally fly 200-400 nm, often with a strong North-South component, and have no trouble juggling two heavy paper sectionals to do so.
 
I find my situational awareness is MUCH higher on flights that I plan the old-fashioned way. Even if I do the actual flight with the iPad.
 
I fly IFR frequently ,with all the approach plates ,add significant weight.
 
Matthew said:
I stopped at the FBO this afternoon. I wanted to copy a w&b page from an airplane I recently began renting. That only took a minute, and I had a free afternoon and my kneeboard, so I pulled out a sectional, my E6b, and a pencil and planned an XC just for fun. Two CFIs stopped by and gazed in wonder and amazement that anyone still had pencil and paper and knew how to use them.
Click to expand...

That's all you need. Works good and lasts a long time. Here's my nav kit that I keep in the light canvas reusable shopping bag tht I use for a flight bag:nav kit.JPG
 
Still use my Army issue E6B whiz wheel issued to me at Fort Rucker in 1984 and God forbid a paper chart. I have all of the fancy crap but it's not hard doing it the old fashioned way. Approach plates are a different story, as they are a PITA to carry around.

Just for fun, everyone should have to do a VOR intersection hold with only one VOR and one CDI.
 
When I started flying with the airline I still carried WAC charts, even with FMS. I always enjoyed navigating w/ VFR charts and finding places visually. When I wasn't in actual. Still do today flying GA.
 
(leans back in chair, kicks feet up and cocks hat Barney Fife style) Yep, I think I'm gonna pick this little baby up for my birthday.

51kkCLyLI5L.jpg
 
Good call, somebody already wrote all over that one but...THERE'S A SALE AT MACY'S?!!!
 
Bobcat1 said:


That's all you need. Works good and lasts a long time. Here's my nav kit that I keep in the light canvas reusable shopping bag tht I use for a flight bag:View attachment 48322
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Wow! I seriously haven't carried that stuff around in almost two decades. A whiz wheel! We now hang those in the aviation themed hotel rooms as artifacts.

Charts held on a lot longer, but we haven't carried a paper chart since 2012.

We now put less effort into a 2400 mile cross country flight than we once put into a hamburger run. Technology is wonderful!
 
Nsconductor said:
Still use my Army issue E6B whiz wheel issued to me at Fort Rucker in 1984 and God forbid a paper chart. I have all of the fancy crap but it's not hard doing it the old fashioned way. Approach plates are a different story, as they are a PITA to carry around.

Just for fun, everyone should have to do a VOR intersection hold with only one VOR and one CDI.
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They still use 1:50,000 maps in flight school today. ;)
 
Did you see the 20% off Harbor Freight coupon in the lower left corner? ;)

And somebody is trying to give away a buttload of eaglets.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Wow! I seriously haven't carried that stuff around in almost two decades. A whiz wheel! We now hang those in the aviation themed hotel rooms as artifacts.

Charts held on a lot longer, but we haven't carried a paper chart since 2012.

We now put less effort into a 2400 mile cross country flight than we once put into a hamburger run. Technology is wonderful!
Click to expand...

I've carried that stuff for the past 40 years. I've actually worn out 2 E6Bs. They're no effort at all. You can figure out your ETP more quickly with the whiz wheel that you can with a pocket calculator. Besides, the cedar cigar box keeps your pencils, plotter and ruler together with that nice cigar humidor aroma.
 
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