My truck's compass failed. No doubt the unintended consequences of installing that magnetic antenna mount. Murphy!
I suggest two other unofficial anti-Murphy flight instruments: 1. Seat of pants 2. Wet finger in the air de AE6QL Pettit, Ghery wrote: 14 CFR 91.205(b) lists the required equipment on a certificated aircraft when flying under VFR (Visual Flight Rules). One could argue that an altimeter is a piece of navigation equipment, but the only other required navigation device is a "Magnetic direction indicator". Sounds like a compass to me. Before anyone jumps on the "airspeed indicator" bandwagon, remember, it reads indicated, not true, and it is speed through the air, not over the ground. Zero wind, OK. Anything else, who knows? Keeping your flight log up to date? For those of you who aren't pilots, I'm sorry. For those who are, isn't this fun? Oh, and Julie Boatman had the compass fail in AOPA's Cutlass while bringing it from the purchase location to start the restoration for next year's give-away. So they aren't completely fail proof. But they are more reliable than any gyro. Fly safe. Ghery From: peter_kelle...@dell.com [mailto:peter_kelle...@dell.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 2:35 PM To: Pettit, Ghery; j...@jmwa.demon.co.uk; emc-p...@ieee.org Subject: RE: IATA Regulations In fact, it's not just a fall back instrument in the world of general aviation. There are many aircraft flying today where the lowly compass is the primary (or even the only) navigational instrument. It has its idiosyncrasies but once understood, its reliability and predicatability remain unmatched by more advanced instrumentation. I recall hearing an instructor once dismissing a gyroscopic heading indicator as a mere 'luxury'. Still...a sneaky glance at the handheld GPS never hurts. Regards Peter. From: emc-p...@ieee.org [mailto:emc-p...@ieee.org] On Behalf Of Pettit, Ghery Sent: 13 February 2007 17:28 To: John Woodgate; emc-p...@ieee.org Subject: RE: IATA Regulations No, but that old magnetic compass is still the fall back instrument for navigation. In fact, I set the gyro compass (heading indicator) to the magnetic compass every 15 minutes or so on the planes I fly. Some more modern HIs automatically correct using a magnetic sensor, but the idea is the same. Don't mess with the magnetic compass, you really want to be able to depend on it. Ghery S. Pettit From: emc-p...@ieee.org [mailto:emc-p...@ieee.org] On Behalf Of John Woodgate Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 10:31 AM To: emc-p...@ieee.org Subject: Re: IATA Regulations In message <mailto:45d087ad.9090...@sun.com> <45d087ad.9090...@sun.com>, dated Mon, 12 Feb 2007, Monrad Monsen <mailto:monrad.mon...@sun.com> <monrad.mon...@sun.com> writes In fact, 49CFR only has the forbidden magnetic levels in the regulations (deviate the compass by 2.0 degrees at a distance of 15 feet). Do modern aircraft still rely on a lodestone, then? (;-) -- OOO - Own Opinions Only. Try www.jmwa.demon.co.uk and www.isce.org.uk There are benefits from being irrational - just ask the square root of 2. John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to emc-p...@ieee.org Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net Mike Cantwell mcantw...@ieee.org For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org David Heald: emc-p...@daveheald.com All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc - ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to emc-p...@ieee.org Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net Mike Cantwell mcantw...@ieee.org For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org David Heald: emc-p...@daveheald.com All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
