If you are confident in your proficiency in flying fundamentals and are willing to put it to the test, consider a cross-country flight to the West Bend (WI) Municipal Airport (ETB) this coming Saturday, September 10, for Kettle Moraine EAA Chapter 1158’s 3-in-one fun flying day. It starts at 0900 with the pilot briefing for the Old School Navigation Mission that does not allow the use of electronic navigation; pilots must navigate solely by compass and clock. It will be followed by the group’s annual spot landing contest and chili cook off.
Maintaining and expanding the social bond among old, new, and prospective pilots is an important function of any fly-in. But as this event shows, they can be so much more. What better way to improve safety and keep pilots enthused about the stick-and-rudder aspects of flight than by challenging them with flying fundamentals that apply to anything that flies?
The Chapter’s Old School Navigation event reminds me of the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s SAFECON Navigation event, in which pilots fly a course to predetermined checkpoints using nothing more than dead reckoning and pilotage. The Old School Navigation Challenge employs many of the same requirements.
Each competing airplane has a crew of three: the pilot, who flies the course at the assigned altitude and planned speed; a copilot, who assists with timing, recording the flight’s parameters, traffic watch, and photographing the predetermined checkpoints; and a judge, who assures that the crew employs no electronic navigation (GPS, VOR, NDB, Loran, etc.) during the event. Two-seat aircraft will have a pilot and judge.
The chapter asks that pilots provide their own copilots and judges, which is an excellent way for pilots to get their nonflying friends more interested in aviation. Instead of just looking out the window and waiting for the social feed, they are essential members of the crew involved with the flight. The judges are allowed to carry a sectional chart (old school paper or on a tablet computer) for emergency (lost aircraft) use only, and their use disqualifies the pilot.
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