PilotEdge Forums

I run the Flight1 GTN 750 on a touch screen monitor. And ForeFlight on the iPad mini, which is a GPS in very many respects.

I typically fly with my iPad mini and Foreflight too, and of course can put a 430, 530 or 750 on the dash/monitor of pretty much any sim airplane. I'm thinking for realism though in the sim, let's say I want to fly an original avionics PA-28, like the OP, or an old Cub, etc., it would be cool to leave the dashboard authentic and maybe have a simulated "handheld" in the simulated cockpit. Not sure if anything like that exists for any of the sim software.

OK, now this is cool for those that have a Garmin handheld . . . http://www.flight1tech.com/products/sim ... ink96.aspx

Personally, I think your going about this the wrong way. Instead of trying ways to continue your GPS reliance, the sim can be used to brush up on estimating distances and navigating visually. As Peter and others have said, you don't need to be super precise when checking in with a distance.

I try to fly a cross country flight RW every once in a while with the GPS turned off and in the sim I pull the Alabeo D17 Staggerwing out for some great low tech flight. After getting my Private ticket, I went out and got an Ipad w/ foreflight and loved it. Until, a flight when it wasn't available to me and I had a distinct uneasy feeling of not having my exact position right in front of me even though I had a paper chart in my lap (my fiancé enjoys flying but she prefers to have inflight entertainment-movies on the ipad). After that I reacquainted myself with pilotage by turning the gps off in the Ipad every now and then, and flying a classic airplane in the sim with foreflight not connected. Makes me much more comfortable in the different airplanes I fly in both the RW and the sim.

I love GPS but as the saying goes, just because you have a new tool or skill, doesn't mean you must (or should) let the old ones get rusty.

my 2 cents...

Great point Andrew. It's pretty easy to become a GPS dependent pilot, and I'll admit I certainly could stand to brush up on good old-fashioned pilotage. I liked Keith's RW VFR series, where scrapped the GPS and flew a XC flight dead-reckoning to Post Mills. Every so often I'll rent a '46 Champ with a pretty humble panel and buzz around north Idaho and eastern WA. But I doubt I have the stones to skirt the LA Bravo in it without my iPad or 490.

Try old fashioned ded reckoning! The interpolated wind forecasts on iPad apps like Foreflight are better than ever.

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Rod,
Love the look of those champs! I'm looking into getting some tailwheel training myself. Might have to put it off until next summer though, I have a wedding and a honeymoon to pay for in January... But I would love to do it here in fall. Ohio may not be as scenic as Washington state, but you cant beat flying open cockpits on crisp fall days IMO. We'll see.....

//off topic//

Ded v. Dead. Ha, figured that may come up. Always happy to defer to you Harold, but which one does the FAA use?

I'm a student pilot real-world and only 12 hours in, and prefer to fly the majority of my PE flights with no GPS, and probably 1/4 to 1/2 of them using just the ForeFlight map with no location reporting, just to get good at pilotage. Personally I find it's a lot more engaging, and I hope it is making me a better pilot. The Warrior II I'm training in has no GPS as well.

Ded v. Dead. Ha, figured that may come up. Always happy to defer to you Harold, but which one does the FAA use?

Ahh the eternal debate. You can find evidence to support both positions. I don't have a position on which is correct.

The FAA uses the term "Dead Reckoning".