Magenta line? We don’t need no magenta line.

[bflynn]

This morning I did the unthinkable. I went flying, cross country, 60 miles away, around a class C airspace…and I used only a chart, landmarks and a stopwatch. It’s amazing what a different experience that is from turning on the autopilot and just watching. So much more engagement, so much more fun.

I highly recommend doing this from time to time.

 

[asicer]

Wish I could congratulate you on being a pioneer, but...
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/i-just-did-the-unthinkable.118074/

 

[Zeldman]

Come fly around the White Sands Missile Range area. You get to go gpsless when they decide to ''practice'' gps jamming... and even though they print out jamming test times, it can happen at anytime.

 

[texasclouds]

Ok, boomer ;-)

 

[Warlock]

Well done…children of the Magenta line will not understand…but thanks for setting an example…

 

[iamtheari]

Everyone should do this often enough to brag about it when other pilots post about doing it.

 

[bflynn]

Everyone should do it because it is so much more engaging. “Feeling” your way across a navigation path keeps you much more involved in the flight. I enjoyed this flight more than any other in a long time.

Ascier, I remember your previous post, which is part of my inspiration for the flight today.

 

[Daleandee]

It's good to be able to find your way around using tried and true methods.

To tell you the truth I once found it difficult to find an airport I've been to a number of times as the air was filled with smoke from so many people burning wood after we had an ice storm a few days earlier. I knew it was there but finding it took a couple of passes over the area. Once I spotted the elementary school the rest was easy.

 

[EdFred]

Next time skip the chart and stopwatch.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Next time skip the chart and stopwatch.

And do it at night. With unexpected cloud layers.

 

[Daleandee]

And do it at night. With unexpected cloud layers.

Wear your foggles too ...

 

[EdFred]

Wear your foggles too ...

...with a safety pilot that only has BasicMed.

 

[wayne]

But without the AP running how can you nap or watch a movie?

 

[Shepherd]

No magenta line? That's like every flight in the Cub.

 

[somorris]

Glad you had fun. Sometimes we tend to get reliant on technology, but it is important to be able to function when the technology fails or just to be able to tell if the technology is giving us the right answer.

 

[iamtheari]

No magenta line? That's like every flight in the Cub.

If you can find my “magenta highlighter” thread from a while back, I showed that you can have a magenta line in a Cub without an electrical system.

 

[iamtheari]

But without the AP running how can you nap or watch a movie?

The same way you do if you have children or a puppy: 10 seconds at a time.

 

[Coinneach]

Me: first Supercub flight: "No NAV? No GPS? How do I know where we are?"
CFI: "Look out the damn window."
Me: "...what a strange concept."

 

[eman1200]

how much preflight planning did u do?

 

[MauleSkinner]

But without the AP running how can you nap or watch a movie?

I once napped for about an hour and a half while hand-flying a Cherokee Six…had it trimmed slightly nose-up because I knew I couldn’t stay awake, and I figured I’d be better off in orbit than flying into the ground. but with my elbow wedged into the armrest & sidewall, the airplane was still dead on altitude and heading when I woke up. Apparently I fly better in my sleep than I do awake.

and yes, I was once that stupid. Maybe still that stupid, just not that stupid in that particular area.

 

[wayne]

Me: first Supercub flight: "No NAV? No GPS? How do I know where we are?"
CFI: "Look out the damn window."
Me: "...what a strange concept."

Rut roh!



How about now?



Dang. What about another trip?




This isn't working!

 

[Coinneach]

Rut roh!
This isn't working!

Pretty sure I wouldn't be VFR On Top in a Supercub in the first place.

(Also, no gyros. How do I know when I'm straight and level?! )

 

[wayne]

Pretty sure I wouldn't be VFR On Top in a Supercub in the first place.

(Also, no gyros. How do I know when I'm straight and level?! )

No gyros!

Cats and dogs living together!

 

[EdFred]

Pretty sure I wouldn't be VFR On Top in a Supercub in the first place.

(Also, no gyros. How do I know when I'm straight and level?! )

But you could be VFR over the top!

 

[eman1200]

Rut roh!

View attachment 99218
...

you'll need another way to keep your stopwatch-using skillz sharp. that modern tech isn't like riding a bicycle ya know.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Pretty sure I wouldn't be VFR On Top in a Supercub in the first place.

VFR over the top, compass, clock, and spin down through at the appropriate time.

(Also, no gyros. How do I know when I'm straight and level?! )

Compass & altimeter.

 

[wrbix]

(Also, no gyros. How do I know when I'm straight and level?! )

Bring along a cat and a duck.

 

[Daleandee]

Bring along a cat and a duck.

Well ... I thought I had an answer but then ...

Great Scott!

 

[MajorTurbulence]

Well, as an occasional exercise to keep skills up, OK. But I rather enjoy the ability to pick out airports from a distance, when too low or into the sun or behind a hill, especially when unfamiliar, with the use of an extended runway centerline or course line. It is downright uncomfortable sometimes with the controller or tower in your ear and not being able to pick out the airport until very close in to comply with pattern entry at an appropriate time. The worst might in fact be after a snowfall has obliterated almost all normally visible landmarks. Give me that magenta line please.

And while we are at it, as long as complicated airspace is defined by radio navigation and/or gps, I hate to have to rely on identifying some landmark that I’m not sure of to define whether I’ve busted or not. I don’t like getting, N...... ready to copy this phone number.