Compass correction card

Huckster79 said:
I cannot find an entry in the 73 years of logs for a correction card so mine must be from 1947... who knows? if they are hunting me down to stick me with a violation for writing a few numbers down that stick in a little frame on the panel, I’m thinking I’m screwed in multiple ways because they obviously at that point are hunting to nail me for something.l if they are looking for that!

I think some of this stuff is way over inflated. Write it down and put it on the panel and fly and sleep well for God’s sake!
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It is an discrepancy if its missing, but is not one when it is wrong.
 
Huckster79 said:
I cannot find an entry in the 73 years of logs for a correction card so mine must be from 1947... who knows? if they are hunting me down to stick me with a violation for writing a few numbers down that stick in a little frame on the panel, I’m thinking I’m screwed in multiple ways because they obviously at that point are hunting to nail me for something.l if they are looking for that!

I think some of this stuff is way over inflated. Write it down and put it on the panel and fly and sleep well for God’s sake!
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Maybe they’re just looking for some low-hanging fruit that they can notify you to repair so they can be done looking at you.
 
Huckster79 said:
I cannot find an entry in the 73 years of logs for a correction card so mine must be from 1947... who knows? if they are hunting me down to stick me with a violation for writing a few numbers down that stick in a little frame on the panel, I’m thinking I’m screwed in multiple ways because they obviously at that point are hunting to nail me for something.l if they are looking for that!

I think some of this stuff is way over inflated. Write it down and put it on the panel and fly and sleep well for God’s sake!
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to you it might be over inflated, but when you have an accident, and the FAA is pouring over the logs and find a problem, and i'm the one that signed the last annual guess who's IA is on the line? so, it is a big deal to the guy that signs your log books.

I have no problem with someone that comes to me and says, "hey, my compass correction card was tattered and faded, i checked it and made a new one, could you look at it and sign it off? done deal, log book entry, "supervised owner performing compass check and fabricating new correction card. sign it done deal. everything is legal and proper.
 
Has the NTSB ever listed "error on compass correction card" as the cause of an accident?
 
Half Fast said:
Has the NTSB ever listed "error on compass correction card" as the cause of an accident?
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I found only one mention of "Compass" as a navigational instrument (vs. ground service company) on an NTSB Probable Cause:

CHI94LA131 Probable Cause: "The pilot in commands' failure to obtain obstruction clearance from trees during a visual takeoff from a short, soft, wet field in instrument meteorological conditions. A factor was the pilot in commands' misjudgment of the takeoff climb performance of the airplane, which resulted in striking trees at the departure end of the field. A second factor was the operation of the airplane with a known defective wet compass, which resulted in the pilot's disorientation and led him to land in the unsuitable field."

Mind you, this was about 25 years ago....

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
I found only one mention of "Compass" as a navigational instrument (vs. ground service company) on an NTSB Probable Cause:

CHI94LA131 Probable Cause: "The pilot in commands' failure to obtain obstruction clearance from trees during a visual takeoff from a short, soft, wet field in instrument meteorological conditions. A factor was the pilot in commands' misjudgment of the takeoff climb performance of the airplane, which resulted in striking trees at the departure end of the field. A second factor was the operation of the airplane with a known defective wet compass, which resulted in the pilot's disorientation and led him to land in the unsuitable field."

Mind you, this was about 25 years ago....

Ron Wanttaja
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I didn't even know you could get clearances from trees. What frequency do you use?
 
Half Fast said:
Has the NTSB ever listed "error on compass correction card" as the cause of an accident?
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None that I've seen. But I do know of 3 people who had there certificate suspended for flying an unairworthy aircraft where the mag compass "status" was pegged in addition to several other seemingly "minor" discrepancies. It all falls back to Block 6 on your AWC and conformity. And as owner, the buck stops with you.
 
Huckster79 said:
I cannot find an entry in the 73 years of logs for a correction card so mine must be from 1947... who knows?
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FWIW: that can be true for a number of aircraft as there are only a handful of reasons that require rechecking a mag compass. Plus if it is checked and no deviations are noted there is no requirement to reissue a compensation card. On the other side, there is also no requirement to keep most aircraft records for more than a year and only 2 years for a CRS. So any mag compass check write up could have been discarded years ago especially if performed by a CRS.
 
Half Fast said:
Has the NTSB ever listed "error on compass correction card" as the cause of an accident?
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It falls under the broader category of "improper / missing log entries" which is listed as a factor in 37.25% of all accidents.






There is a 67.5% chance that somebody is going to take this post seriously.


82.45% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
 
Does a mechanic check the compass every time there is avionics replacements. The change in avionics seems to be the driving factor in magnetic field changes and therefore compass error.
 
cgrab said:
Does a mechanic check the compass every time there is avionics replacements. The change in avionics seems to be the driving factor in magnetic field changes and therefore compass error.
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Depends. Sometimes there's a requirement in the installation instructions to check the compass but it's not all avionics driven. There's other guidance to check after other events like lightening strikes. Regardless if there's any doubt the mag compass doesnt meet its certification requirements it's supposed to be checked. However as more digital equipment is installed in aircraft I've done more EMI/EMC checks than mag compass checks in recent years.
 
Just signed off a GTN750...it required a magnetic compass check after installation.

Tom, I know what a compass does....it was a joke.:)
 
cgrab said:
Some went up, some went down. I WILL NOT attach it to my airplane since I am only an owner/pilot and not an A&P (IA). I will keep it on my knee board so I can use it and actually fly safely.
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I think I would do your compass swing on a compass rose and compare all 3 sets of measurements. Might turn up something interesting might not.
 
Compass swings are much to do about nothing in my opinion. If you were to fill out a compass card with random corrections of 1 or 2 degrees and pasted it on your compass, I doubt anyone would ever catch it was totally fabricated information and the FAA would be happy, your IA would be happy, and you would continue to completely ignore any deviation correction in the course of your flight. If you did notice more than a 5 degree error, you might try to get it closer but anything less than 5 degrees would probably go unnoticed. But then there will be those who insist this is a totally unsafe attitude--what if you were comm out and all you had to get down through the clag in mountainous terrain was an ADF approach to minimums at night, you're partial panel, needle ball and airspeed only? You're certain to die without an accurate compass deviation card even if most pilots never reference it in the real world.
 
Building on the prior post by @Witmo. True confession time. Who, other than doing a flight plan as part of instruction or a checkride, has actually referenced their compass correction card?

I look at my compass taking a runway and during preflight as part of checking my other instruments. I also cross check it in flight once in a while. I have never been able to read it to a level of precision that is equal to what's printed on my compass correction card.
 
Hang 4 said:
Building on the prior post by @Witmo. True confession time. Who, other than doing a flight plan as part of instruction or a checkride, has actually referenced their compass correction card?

I look at my compass taking a runway and during preflight as part of checking my other instruments. I also cross check it in flight once in a while. I have never been able to read it to a level of precision that is equal to what's printed on my compass correction card.
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I seriously doubt compass error has ever been a factor in any issue on a flight over land. A very long flight over water, maybe.....
 
Salty said:
I seriously doubt compass error has ever been a factor in any issue on a flight over land. A very long flight over water, maybe.....
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Well, there was Corrigan....... :)

(I have an autographed copy of his book sitting right here on the shelf, with an autographed snapshot as well.)
 
Hang 4 said:
Building on the prior post by @Witmo. True confession time. Who, other than doing a flight plan as part of instruction or a checkride, has actually referenced their compass correction card?

I look at my compass taking a runway and during preflight as part of checking my other instruments. I also cross check it in flight once in a while. I have never been able to read it to a level of precision that is equal to what's printed on my compass correction card.
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As I indicated in a previous post, I have.
 
Hang 4 said:
Building on the prior post by @Witmo. True confession time. Who, other than doing a flight plan as part of instruction or a checkride, has actually referenced their compass correction card?

I look at my compass taking a runway and during preflight as part of checking my other instruments. I also cross check it in flight once in a while. I have never been able to read it to a level of precision that is equal to what's printed on my compass correction card.
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I agree- though without a DG I have had to try using it going into D when been given a heading... I can no longer fully read mine so I flew as close as I could to the bobbing whisky compass as is. musta been good enough... wasn’t called out for being off...
 
Salty said:
I seriously doubt compass error has ever been a factor in any issue on a flight over land. A very long flight over water, maybe.....
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Yeah, Lindburg probably worried about compass deviation but today with GPS, GLONASS and inertial systems, even overwater flights have better info available than a compass for navigation.
 
Witmo said:
Yeah, Lindburg probably worried about compass deviation but today with GPS, GLONASS and inertial systems, even overwater flights have better info available than a compass for navigation.
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As long as it works. I trained recently with a guy who flew a dark airplane for most of the last half of this flight from Singapore to Hawaii. I think he’d have been tickled pink to have a good compass card...or even a whiskey compass.
 
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