E6B Usage

[fgcason]

Am I the only one that has some love for the whiz wheel just for the ingenuity and beauty in form and function?

Nope. I'm there too.

I know that thing can't be saving him any time!

Maybe, maybe not. I can work solutions on an E6B much faster than on an electronic version...and that's using only one hand. A bazillion solutions are displayed right there in front of you all at once. Want a variation of what you're doing, look around the wheel a little further and there it is. The nice bit is when you put the wrong information into it, the setup doesn't look right at all. On an electronic version, an entry error is buried in some memory chip in the case and it spits out an innocent looking number like it's correct.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Don't get me wrong. I agree with those who say the whiz wheel form and function is very good. But so's a standard non-circular slide rule and I don't use one of those anymore either.

The wind triangle side can't be beat for training a student to visually see the relationships between aircraft and wind direction and speed. And bo doubt that there are calculations that the whiz wheel does very quickly - distance/time is an obvious example.

But that's not true for all. If one really can do wind calculations for a multi leg route with turns faster on a whiz wheel than an equally proficient person on a computerized flight planner, I'd really like to see it.

 

[Wingsofglass]

Not since the day I got my PPL. I can't remember the last time I've flown with less than 5 working GPSs (2 in the G1000, iPhone, iPad, 496) which doesn't include my PLB.

 

[rottydaddy]

Am I the only one that has some love for the whiz wheel just for the ingenuity and beauty in form and function?

No. There are at least two of us.
And don't forget that it's cheap and needs no batteries, software updates, or satellite reception... and you can sit on it, drop it in water, and leave it out in the hot sun all day and it will still work. Hell, if it got run over by a truck it would probably still work.

 

[Bobcat1]

No. There are at least two of us.
And don't forget that it's cheap and needs no batteries, software updates, or satellite reception... and you can sit on it, drop it in water, and leave it out in the hot sun all day and it will still work. Hell, if it got run over by a truck it would probably still work.

Only if you've got the aluminum E6B. Those original ones were plastic and they would warp in the sun if you forgot and left 'em on the glareshield when the airplane was parked in Albuquerque on a hot summer day.

 

[RyanShort1]

Am I the only one that has some love for the whiz wheel just for the ingenuity and beauty in form and function?

Nope. I'll admit that MOST of my usage is in flight training, but I firmly believe that if you learn how to use it effectively, it's the fastest, and often the best tool for the job. Now that I have taught students how to use it, I have found it more useful myself.

Ryan

 

[fgcason]

Only if you've got the aluminum E6B. Those original ones were plastic and they would warp in the sun if you forgot and left 'em on the glareshield when the airplane was parked in Albuquerque on a hot summer day.

Warped doesn't destroy it. It will still work just fine. For that matter, it will still work if you snap it in half...try that with an electronic version sometime and see what happens...

 

[flyingron]

I largely use better tools. First off, my flight planning software software does most of the winds calculations for flight planning and in the air, the GPS already reads out the ground speed and ETA which is what you'd most likely use the E6 for. I occasionally use an E6 calculator app to compute winds/TAS but that's largely for curiosity sake rather than any operational issue.

I do have an iPhone app that is an "electronic E6" where it gives you a graphic of a real E6 that you can spin the wheel around and work the wind side.

 

[timwinters]

I use my E6B on almost every flight to calculate TAS so I can log it.

 

[Bobcat1]

I've really been looking for the original Dalton E6B from the old Air Corps days. They had the square grid at the bottom part of the high speed scale. The only thing that pilots know how to use for today is for crosswind calculation, but there are a few other functions as well.

 

[Ghery]

No. There are at least two of us.
And don't forget that it's cheap and needs no batteries, software updates, or satellite reception... and you can sit on it, drop it in water, and leave it out in the hot sun all day and it will still work. Hell, if it got run over by a truck it would probably still work.

Key important points. Reliability is second to none. I drag my slide rule into work now and then just to harrass the kids. Batteries? Who needs batteries?

I use my E6B on almost every flight to calculate TAS so I can log it.

That's what the TAS calculator around the ASI is for. Besides, I'm more interested in ground speed, and the 430W reads that out directly for me. As my IR DPE said, "Use everything in the cockpit."

 

[GCA319]

Even on my check ride, I was using pilotage and dead reckoning. My DPE finally pointed at the GPS and said "aren't you going to use this thing" (it was a portable 496).

He's supposed to test you on both Pilotage/dead rec and the use of NAV radios/GPS, so that is probably what he was trying to accomplish. If I were a DPE, I'd definately want to see if the applicant could use the GPS if it were, whether it were portable or installed.

 

[X3 Skier]

I still have my slide rule but I don't use it or the E6B. In fact, back in the dark ages, we actually had to take a course in making special slide rules and nomographs to graduate from Engineering College. My project was one with two slides and eight scales IIRC to compute the number of dump trucks required to service an excavation.

Great believer in TLAR. That with FF, GPS etc, a whiz wheel is a last resort. There's even an app on my iPod called Pilot Wizz for cross winds and other odds and ends if I need it.

Cheers

 

[onwards]

Nope. Don't even carry it. I wouldnt remember how to use it anyway if I had to, beyond the basic stuff, which I can do in my head without needing any tool. I knew it was useless the moment I saw it on training, told my instructor as such, used it twice (just enough to demomstrate I can), carried it with me faithfully until I got my certificate, promptly dumped it in the drawer with the rest of the training stuff. One day ill show it to my kids together with an old walkman.