I think the greater problem is that the ‘private pilots club’ that sort of exists here is somewhat different to the ‘club’ that train for the RH seat of a A320. In the latter model, you take the Sarden, train them to PPL level, CPL, instructor – then they repeat what they have been thought and finally land a RH seat. At no point have they used their PPL to go somewhere but rather learn, teach, practice (and finally believe the system). I got a public lecture from an instructor for stating I didn’t wish to do an IR course with NDBs! I walked across the road but his ego was satisfied and I got a G1000 to play with :)
One can not expect independent thought from the system. It’s perfectly fine for one to enjoy DR and politage, it’s another to look down and lecture a pilot who wants to use something made after >1930. Everyone to themselves without judging others I say!
As an examiner I see all sorts. I’ve failed an individual for unsatisfactory DR ……….. and I’ve also failed a chap for not realising he had incorrectly set-up his GPS such that he was about to unknowingly infringe CAS. Basically, most of us would take a dim view if a pilot put all his eggs in one basket.
As an examiner I see all sorts. I’ve failed an individual for unsatisfactory DR …
When I did my instructor checkride (pre GPS, at least pre generally available GPS) the weather was so bad that terrestrial navigation was almost impossible. My combination of terrestrial navigation and DR left a lot to be desired and I had to admit that I couldn’t find a very familiar visual reporting point for re-entering the control zone. I surrendered and asked for radar vectors back home, convinced that I would have to do that one again. But the examiner let me pass, telling me that he too had absolutely no idea where we were and my timely call for help had saved us from a zone infringement for which he would have been held resposible, so I sort of saved his back.
It is about time that some of the traditional items in the PPL exams get modernised.
Who still actually flies with his E6B? Never used it again after my exam. (I do have the app on my Iphone if need be).
Dead reckoning … I always fly with GPS.. or in known territory.. I could still do the DR but fail to see the point.
For a PPL learning how to the DR is a good idea .. but making it an important item for your checkride??
On the other hand there is hardly anything on the GPS approaches and PBN on an instrument checkride.. and that would definitely make sense.
It is about time that some of the traditional items in the PPL exams get modernised
I am inclined to agree, but I reckon the PPL passing time could be halved if more emphasis was put on GPS navigation. While that’s a good thing for the £ in your pocket, I fear it wouldn’t churn out more rounded competent pilots, sadly. Its OK if your gonna head straight into the airlines, but not for GA.
Thanks Silvaire. Pilotage – DR, makes sense now 
It is about time that some of the traditional items in the PPL exams get modernised.
Who still actually flies with his E6B? Never used it again after my exam. (I do have the app on my Iphone if need be).
Dead reckoning … I always fly with GPS.. or in known territory.. I could still do the DR but fail to see the point.
For a PPL learning how to the DR is a good idea .. but making it an important item for your checkride??
On the other hand there is hardly anything on the GPS approaches and PBN on an instrument checkride.. and that would definitely make sense.
I hope it never get modernized. If it does, then the only thing that happens is we get some standardized, certified GPS that cost €2-5k or more that every aircraft must install, new as well as old. A unit that after 5 years already is old fashioned compared to an app on a phone or an experimental glass display. Learning DR is a fair price to pay to prevent this from happening.
I think an examiner would be surprised if you pulled an E6B or CRP5 out in the cockpit!
While PPL and CPL combines DR with pilotage, feature crawling is frowned upon and headings and ETA still need to be nominated. So not quite the full DR provided by a navigator, but the principles still apply.
There is an unfortunate assumption in some areas of GA that people who fly 100% on the GPS are not doing any route planning.
I know this is true for some pilots (probably more these days, with many flying with a certain very popular UK moving map product which is designed to hold your hand tightly
That “popular UK moving map product” almost certainly promotes better route planning because it makes route planning a lot easier. It also includes NOTAMs when you use it to route plan.
SD is a complete package and works well. Come over to Booker and you will see that we actively encourage its use (there is an airfield close to us that will not allow a student pilot to fly solo without SD). Conversely, we see people use the equivalent of “Direct To” on their 296/496 with a navigation database that is five years out of date who subsequently launch into the ether without any further thought.
The ‘problem’ with GPS is that the capability of the various hardware/software packages varies widely and consequently the efficacy of it’s use is inconsistent. The real weakness is in the training system but until someone defines what should be taught and on what generic platform we will be left with an ad-hoc approach.
