Hey Guys, have been using a gps logger my training flights in the past 5 sessions and wanted to share some the details.
Basically my instructor has been naming the towns we pass by on each lesson, 'This is Chesham, this is xyz...' and I go 'err aha ok' and very quickly forget about it... He would then ask me... 'Do you know where we are?' to which I answer I have no idea. So I've decided to do something about it and get to know the area over which we fly better.
Bought myself an external bluetooth gps thing (around £10), downloaded a free gps logging application on my android and voila! After each lesson I can import it on google earth and fly the whole thing again. Google earth lets you 'fly' on the logged track (it just doesn't roll/pitch like the real thing). I can look to the left/right and say oh so that is Chesham... that is the disused airfield instructor was pointing at... I would try to locate it on the aviation chart or skydemon light. I thought if I do this often enough I would one day be able to answer back with the correct location.
I was also impressed how accurate the cheap GPS is. On the runway while taking off it is spot on the center line and the alt varies only by a foot or two(sometimes the line goes slightly below and above runway). Unfortunetely I can't share the actual flight on google earth easily, so instead here's a plot done on track and alt profile from the last lesson (stalling in case you haven't guessed...).
Hope this is useful to someone!
