Brushing Up on Pilotage
Article by Barry Ward
You may remember the presentation
for the February 3, 2005 meeting concerned the subject of GPS. The material was
presented by the ever popular Brian Gilomen. You may have seen me taking notes
during that presentation. Not, as some of you might think, to kiss up to Brian
(although a little kissing up never hurt), but because I feel I need to upgrade
my current GPS to something more modern and comprehensive.
Anyway, Brian is up there talking about other ways to navigate such as Pilotage,
and I’m thinking ‘Sure, I’ve done that.’…Dead Reckoning and I’m thinking ‘Dead
what? Oh yeah I remember that from ground school.’ Brian also spoke of Loran
‘Ahhh, so that’s Loran.’ and VOR (I do have a VOR receiver in my ICOM and, true,
I have never used it.)
Deeper into the presentation Brian mentioned the simple fact that GPS receivers
are not 100% reliable. Sure I know that, doesn’t everyone? Then I remembered the
time that Phil Bolenbaugh, Brad Wolf and I took a little jaunt out to Illinois
Valley. Even though I was flying with 2 guys who had superior GPS receivers, I
had hand entered the coordinates to the airport as I always do. Everything was
fine until we were maybe 6 miles out.
We were getting close, so I kept checking my GPS to make sure I was on track. I
also wanted to get an idea where the airport was so I could spot it on the
ground. I think it was Phil who altered course a little to the north to avoid
some ground congestion. I followed suit, and when I checked my GPS I realized it
did not register the fact that I had altered course. I starred at it for a few
seconds and discovered the damn thing had locked up.
Apparently the batteries were low. I had made a check of the battery level
sometime during that day and it was at 2 bars, somewhere around 28%. But I had
never let the thing run all the way down so I did not know when, or how, the GPS
would fail. Now I did. Well, I simply followed Phil and Brad till we were in
sight of the field, and everything was fine. After I landed I replaced the
batteries with some spares I was carrying.
The memory did spark some thought though. I don’t mind flying alone. This has
become no less true as my skills and confidence increase. As a precaution I do
check the batteries before I go anywhere and I do carry extra batteries in my
storage area. I actually carry a spare set in the cockpit on long trips such as
Oshkosh, or the trip to the Phantom factory. However this is no protection
against a component failure which could put me in an uncomfortable situation if
I was not prepared.
I silently pledged to sharpen my skills.
The next Sunday February 6th, 2005 (see how good I am) I practiced my pilotage
skills. I have followed the roads several times while flying between Clow and
Cushing. But I have driven that route a hundred times and, while it was
challenging the first time, it has not been difficult since. I was determined to
stretch a little.
I decided to fly over a friend’s house out in Plano. (The younger brother of a
good friend actually.) I have driven to his house a total of 2 times and it is
located a little out of my stomping grounds. This could be fun. After checking
the batteries in my GPS I turned it off. I would resort to the GPS only in an
emergency.
I Left Clow at 12:32 P.M. The winds were pretty strong out of the SSW so I had a
good headwind. I followed Boughton to Naper-Plainfield to 95th to Rt59 to 75th
and so on. While I was in familiar areas it wasn’t too bad. I kept concentrating
on major intersections and looked for familiar landmarks such as the orange Home
Depot building on the corner of 75th & Rt59. The ‘Y’ intersection of Ogden &
75th was also easy to spot. I found it entertaining trying to translate the
images I have memorized while driving, into an ‘Over the Top’ perspective. If
you haven’t spent a lot of time doing this you should give it a try.
All was well, until I hit Rt30 & Rt31 just south of Aurora. Pilotage became
harder as I approached that point. As I proceeded west I became less and less
confident. I experienced that strange ‘stretching of time’ I normally get when I
am following directions to an unfamiliar place. I am always sure that I have
been driving far too long. Certain that I have missed the turn I’ve been looking
for. I keep going until I figure I’ve gone twice as far as I should. Nervously I
go just a little further and bingo, here comes my intersection. I am not sure
why I experience time like that but I am aware of it happening now, as it
happens. I still doubt I am on track, but I try to stick it out and I am
normally rewarded.
The experience while flying was no different. I was starting to look for Rt47
along Rt30 and I was sure I must have passed it. I flew a couple of big circles
to see how far I had come (a lot easier in a plane than in a car) and decided to
continue on. Once again I was rewarded for my persistence. Rt47 dead ahead. I
recognized a small Putt-Putt golf course near the intersection. I steered south
and then west over Galena road. Once again I experienced the time lag. “How far
was that drive?’ I kept going. ‘This is ridiculous”, and I am starting to check
my fuel gauge regularly. Finely a landmark I needed came into view. A long
angled road that ran from the Aurora airport to an intersection on Galena road.
I had made it.
I pushed ‘Send” on my cell phone and it redialed my friend’s number. Of course
we could not communicate because of the engine noise. I told him he would hear
the engine over the phone and know to look out the window. A big thrill for him
I’m sure, but what the heck.
I was pretty happy with the results of my pilotage test and I finished the day
by flying to Cushing and fueling up, and then back to Clow. I used my GPS for
all of that of course.
The moral of the story is, as far as I am concerned, Barry needs more practice
with pilotage. I use pilotage on and off as I fly. I am sure we all do. As I am
flying along I recognized that water tower, or that intersection, or that farm,
etcetera. But I am really relying on my GPS, and the landmarks are just
interesting bits of information. If I am flying over ‘familiar’ territory then I
need to get familiar with it. If I am flying over unfamiliar territory then I
need to use my sectional, and refer to it regularly.
I have an interesting idea. Try turning the damn thing off. I mean go noodling
around some warm sunny afternoon. Turn off your GPS and fly around without
paying too much attention to where you are. Low and Slow would be perfect to
disorient you. Then at some opportune time try flying back to Cushing field with
only your pilotage skill. You will always have your GPS as a backup. Better yet,
bring a friend. You turn off your GPS and have your friend lead you on a merry
chase for 20 minutes. Then let your friend decide which airfield you have to
navigate back to. He will keep his GPS on to make sure you don’t violate any
airspace or get into trouble. Set a time limit and have fun.
Next Time…DEAD RECKONING!
Barry Ward
Where To Now?
Safety? We DO Need That Steenkin' Safety!