Manual E6B

[RalphInCA]

I have recently broken out the E6B flight computer I got more than 30 years ago.

For some tasks, this still seems to be the fastest and best way to do things.

Anybody agree?

 

[jnbcfi]

Yep, and it never has a dead battery....

 

[LDJones]

Yep....keep my mini version with me all the time and use it for quick computations.

 

[Cpt_Kirk]

Yes.

I prefer it to the electronic version.

 

[Richard]

Cordless. Batteries not required. Can be dropped. Can be left in direct sunlight. Rust free. Water resistant. Water proof. No-glare display. Promotes user comprehension of operational information (as opposed to memorization of sequential button pushing). Easy to use. Rapid computations. No need to start from beginning if a step is erroneous omitted. For that matter, not many steps involved to derive solution.

Gets chicks.

 

[jpower]

Gets chicks.

In that case I demand a refund.

 

[flyingron]

Having grown up in the era where pocket calculators were just beginning to appear, we learned slide rules in my technical courses. Starting ground school I had no problem with the E6 (this is just a slide rule). Amusingly I was sitting in my car at a gas station on the way home form ground school wondering what the milege I was getting was. Not being able to do the division in my head, I remembered I had the E6 with me and figured it out quickly.

There's an Iphone app that simulates a mechanical E6B. I pull it up from time to time to screw with people.

 

[RJM62]

Having grown up in the era where pocket calculators were just beginning to appear, we learned slide rules in my technical courses. Starting ground school I had no problem with the E6 (this is just a slide rule). Amusingly I was sitting in my car at a gas station on the way home form ground school wondering what the milege I was getting was. Not being able to do the division in my head, I remembered I had the E6 with me and figured it out quickly.

There's an Iphone app that simulates a mechanical E6B. I pull it up from time to time to screw with people.

I learned the slide rule in school, as well. I also still prefer the whiz wheel to any of its electronic imitators. I also think doing it old-school helps students to better understand the calculations they're making, as opposed to just pushing a sequence of buttons.

-Rich

 

[eman1200]

haven't touched my e6b since training.

but I will, cause they really are pretty cool.

 

[airdale]

haven't touched my e6b since training

Me neither. In fact I don't even remember using it much then.

But I do have two or three that I enjoy as objects. They are the precision old-timers with the graduations and numbers etched into the aluminum, not just silk-screened on top. One or two E-6Bs and a CPU-26A half-size version. Personality defect or packratitis, I guess.

 

[BillTIZ]

Having grown up in the era where pocket calculators were just beginning to appear, we learned slide rules in my technical courses. Starting ground school I had no problem with the E6 (this is just a slide rule). Amusingly I was sitting in my car at a gas station on the way home form ground school wondering what the milege I was getting was. Not being able to do the division in my head, I remembered I had the E6 with me and figured it out quickly.

There's an Iphone app that simulates a mechanical E6B. I pull it up from time to time to screw with people.

having grown up before there were digital watches, let alone electronic calculators, slide rules were introduced in 7th grade. I had problems with the linear slide rule, the instructor handed me a circular slide rule. When I got to pilot training and they brought out the E6B, it was all old school to me.

 

[us AAirways]

Time/speed/dist/fuel I can do in my head.

Not the wind triangle though.

 

[Johann]

Can be left in direct sunlight/QUOTE]

Mine not really. It's the cardboard and plastic one. After being overheated, the plastic side (the one for wind correction angle calculation) got deformed, so that side was unusable. I guess the other side was usable, but I'll add, super cheap to replace!

 

[Timmer]

I have recently broken out the E6B flight computer I got more than 30 years ago.

For some tasks, this still seems to be the fastest and best way to do things.

Anybody agree?

Nope. I like the CR4 better

 

[timwinters]

I use mine on nearly every flight to check that day's TAS.

 

[Matthew]

Nope. I like the CR4 better

The CR4 wind triangle is a little more intuitive to some. Depends on what you are used to.

My CR4 lives in my bag, my E6-B lives in my kneeboard.

 

[Timmer]

The CR4 wind triangle is a little more intuitive to some. Depends on what you are used to.

My CR4 lives in my bag, my E6-B lives in my kneeboard.

My CR4 fits in a little side pocket on my kneeboard; my Dad keeps his in his shirt pocket (when flying). I find it very easy to use, but like you said, they're tools: use whichever works best for you.

 

[Matthew]

I have the large CR4. Too big for a shirt pocket.

 

[MachFly]

I have recently broken out the E6B flight computer I got more than 30 years ago.

For some tasks, this still seems to be the fastest and best way to do things.

Anybody agree?

Yes

Had mine for years, and I've yet to need to replace batteries.

 

[MachFly]

The CR4 wind triangle is a little more intuitive to some. Depends on what you are used to.

My CR4 lives in my bag, my E6-B lives in my kneeboard.

I used a CR3 for a while, ended up going back to the E6B. Nothing really wrong with the CR, just prefer the E6B.

 

[jaybee]

I started with a cheapo cardboard one, it was difficult to get precise answers with it ( for FAA test purposes...). This post inspired me to order a nice metal one I've had in my Amazon wish list for a while.

 

[flyingron]

I have an ASA CX-2 left over from taking my instrument written (only thing I've ever used it for). For the occasional TAS/Wind calculation in flight I use an app (My E6B) on my iPhone. The fact that the GPS gives time and distance (and the JPI fuel info) to the destination as well as every fix on the airway obviates most of the need for other calculations.

 

[Ghery]

Gets chicks.

In that case I demand a refund.

Too late for me. I was already well and truly married by the time I started learning to fly. But, I still like my E6B for all the reasons noted earlier. No batteries to die. No display hybrid to quit. Use it with one hand in rough air. What's not to like?

 

[Zeldman]

When I was talking about learning to fly, my dad gave me an E6B that someone gave him in the early 50s. A few days later I was talking to an old family friend that learned to fly before WWII. He saw the old E6B and took it from me, then reached in his flight bag and gave me an electronic one. He told me that this is the electronic age, not the stone age. And he was 90 at the time. I have since collected a B-17 groundspeed/wind direction wiz wheel. Both hand operated wiz wheels make good wall decorations. These are the old kind with military service dates and numbers on them, not the painted on numbers, but actual notches in the metal. The B-17 one has on it "For B-17D model only".

I taught my students to make a decision and use either the electric one or the hand operated one. Haven't used one since I was an instructor. The GPS does everything now.

 

[CTLSi]

My E6B is inside the Garmin 796. I also have another one giving me realtime Density Altitude, Ground Speed, TAS and wind vectors in the Dynon Skyview.