inav8r
Line Up and Wait
This weekend I decided to make my annual treck in the plane back to WV to visit my family. I do this because I'm (slowly) trying to build up XC hours so I can (eventually) work on my IR. At any rate, I've done the trip a couple of times previous and I know it's a piece of cake - basically just fly east until you get there...
On the previous two trips I, of course, marked up my charts, made a full flight plan with waypoints, time/fuel estimates, etc. However when actually flying the trip I would just press direct-to on the GPS and follow the line. I would tune in the VOR's on the NAV's as I passed them just in case.
Well, this trip, (after making a lot of smaller trips around the home-drome this summer) I got complacent. I grabbed my charts, called FSS and got the winds aloft - made some quick ETD estimates (to make sure fuel was not going to be a problem) - and took off. Not a chart open, not a single NAV tuned to anything - and you guessed it - pressed direct-to and started flying towards WV from IN.
After an hour or so of flying I found myself about 20 minutes outside of Columbus OH and all of a sudden the GPS tells me that it has lost all satellite signals. No big deal, I think, this happens from time to time, hold my heading and alt and it'll be back in a few mins. I look down at my backup, handheld GPS - and same thing - no signal.
I flew on for about 5 more minutes and nothing. Cycling the power on both units does not get me any sattelites back. Thank heavens I had my flight guide and folded up charts on the empty pax seat, but still I had this sinking feeling as I realized I was going to have to do a quick vor-to-vor flight plan while flying and nearing sometimes crowded airspace.
Fortunatly I'm pretty familiar with the route and was able to quickly get established on course - and with a couple of quick cross checks I was able to confirm my position on the chart - and nothing bad happened (this time). I had to fly almost 50 miles before the sattelite signal came back - and while I ended up using the direct-to button again to finish up the trip - you can bet your sweet bippy I kept my backup NAV plan running the rest of the trip! (And for the record, on the return trip the next day I lost signal on both GPS units in the same space - but this time I was already prepared!)
Lesson Learned - don't get complacent and over rely on that all magical box - the GPS!
On the previous two trips I, of course, marked up my charts, made a full flight plan with waypoints, time/fuel estimates, etc. However when actually flying the trip I would just press direct-to on the GPS and follow the line. I would tune in the VOR's on the NAV's as I passed them just in case.
Well, this trip, (after making a lot of smaller trips around the home-drome this summer) I got complacent. I grabbed my charts, called FSS and got the winds aloft - made some quick ETD estimates (to make sure fuel was not going to be a problem) - and took off. Not a chart open, not a single NAV tuned to anything - and you guessed it - pressed direct-to and started flying towards WV from IN.
After an hour or so of flying I found myself about 20 minutes outside of Columbus OH and all of a sudden the GPS tells me that it has lost all satellite signals. No big deal, I think, this happens from time to time, hold my heading and alt and it'll be back in a few mins. I look down at my backup, handheld GPS - and same thing - no signal.
I flew on for about 5 more minutes and nothing. Cycling the power on both units does not get me any sattelites back. Thank heavens I had my flight guide and folded up charts on the empty pax seat, but still I had this sinking feeling as I realized I was going to have to do a quick vor-to-vor flight plan while flying and nearing sometimes crowded airspace.
Fortunatly I'm pretty familiar with the route and was able to quickly get established on course - and with a couple of quick cross checks I was able to confirm my position on the chart - and nothing bad happened (this time). I had to fly almost 50 miles before the sattelite signal came back - and while I ended up using the direct-to button again to finish up the trip - you can bet your sweet bippy I kept my backup NAV plan running the rest of the trip! (And for the record, on the return trip the next day I lost signal on both GPS units in the same space - but this time I was already prepared!)
Lesson Learned - don't get complacent and over rely on that all magical box - the GPS!