Laurie
Pre-takeoff checklist
Ok, funny story. One of these days I need to write a book on the goofy things students do. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and this is entirely true, it happened to me.
A student calls me a day after our ground school class on flight planning. He, we'll call him Bogey, is having difficulty coming up with the correct answer for plotting a course on his take-home quiz.
Bogey. "Hi Laurie. I just cannot figure out question 3."
Laurie "Ok Bogey, let's go through it together. Do you have your chart and plotter?"
Bogey, "Yes, I do"
Laurie "Ok Bogey, draw your course line from airport a to airport b"
Bogey, "Ok, I did that"
Laurie "Now find where that course intersects a longitude line, preferably in the middle of the course. Do you find one?"
Bogey, "Yes, found one"
Laurie "Now put your protractor portion of your plotter on your course line where it crosses the longitude line. Put that little pin hole of the plotter right there on the intersection."
Bogey, "Ok, I did that"
Laurie, "Good, now line up the ruler portion of your plotter with your course line and read where the longitude line comes through the protractor part of your plotter."
Bogey, "Ok, I see, I get 148"
Laurie, "Well, I get 156. You're only a few degrees off, maybe double check your course line"
Bogey, "Dang! Well, hang on a minute, let me pull over."
Laurie, "WHAT?!!"
Seriously, this guy was on his cell phone, driving down the road trying to plot a course! That explains the car horns and noise in the background. And people give me dirty looks for applying mascara while I'm driving, sheeeesh!
A student calls me a day after our ground school class on flight planning. He, we'll call him Bogey, is having difficulty coming up with the correct answer for plotting a course on his take-home quiz.
Bogey. "Hi Laurie. I just cannot figure out question 3."
Laurie "Ok Bogey, let's go through it together. Do you have your chart and plotter?"
Bogey, "Yes, I do"
Laurie "Ok Bogey, draw your course line from airport a to airport b"
Bogey, "Ok, I did that"
Laurie "Now find where that course intersects a longitude line, preferably in the middle of the course. Do you find one?"
Bogey, "Yes, found one"
Laurie "Now put your protractor portion of your plotter on your course line where it crosses the longitude line. Put that little pin hole of the plotter right there on the intersection."
Bogey, "Ok, I did that"
Laurie, "Good, now line up the ruler portion of your plotter with your course line and read where the longitude line comes through the protractor part of your plotter."
Bogey, "Ok, I see, I get 148"
Laurie, "Well, I get 156. You're only a few degrees off, maybe double check your course line"
Bogey, "Dang! Well, hang on a minute, let me pull over."
Laurie, "WHAT?!!"
Seriously, this guy was on his cell phone, driving down the road trying to plot a course! That explains the car horns and noise in the background. And people give me dirty looks for applying mascara while I'm driving, sheeeesh!
