I’m trying to learn dead-reckoning, I have a chart, the calculator etc, plotted my course, set the wind in the simulator to my desired flight level and flew the plan.
It was 60NM long and checking my VRP’s found I was off at the 40 mile VRP by about 10NM - I was slightly disappointed but no harm.
It wasn’t until I was in the terminal drinking a coffee that I realised I had flown the true course and not the corrected heading ! There was a 9 degree wind correction which would most likely have put me bang on target.
Questions - I set the wind layer to 2000 feet 350@20 - it was almost impossible taking off and landing was even worse, I did walk away but my Cessna was a tad bent - the landing runway was 27 so i was looking at a very hard crosswind, the windsock was showing 12kts which is the limit for a 152. Is that the correct way to set a custom wind???
Next, during flight there were massive gusts, they pretty much tipped the plane over 90 degrees in roll, easy to correct but very severe, where were they coming from? It was about one every 5 minutes maybe.
I’m going to plan another trip and use the correct heading next
Dead reckoning is probably the least accurate navigation method because it relies too much on aircraft performance and wind forecasts. I recommend that you add visual checkpoints along your route. These would help verify if you are still on course. If not then wind speed and direction can be recalculated and the wind correction angle updated. Sounds like lots of fun!
Thanks,
I did add some visual reference points, they were about 10NM apart, without them I would never have found my destination or realised I was about 10miles adrift
Once I have got dear-reckoning going, I want to try manually plotting VOR to VOR routes etc. then move on to ILS maybe.
It is good fun, trying to follow a fixed heading & speed in wind was the hardest thing I’ve tried so far, pretty intense.
Did you manage to look at the video clip - I think those wind gusts are a bit over-the-top?
I applaud your approach, start with DR then use the nav systems, that instinct you develop from DR will stand you you in good stead for all time. I see so many posts blaming the sim and asking why the aircraft AP heading is different to the set nav course etc, people trying to fly the A320 with absolutely no knowledge of basic principles or willingness to learn the basics of navigation in a C152.
Thanks
I like trying to do stuff right, or at least to the best of my ability. Its great fun learning DR.
I just took my flight again, this time I used the correct heading and it worked 100% spot on, i was 1 minute early and using the visual references made a mid-course correction to get back on route.
Even the fuel calculation was almost perfect at 4.94 gallons used out of 5.1gal calculated.
I’ll plot a new trip next, this time with some bends in it
Today’s technology is awesome compared to the “old school” E6B with the rotating wind correction circle. Sometimes it takes me time to find the right app… There is a very old school technique (Kentucky Windage?) to quickly estimate wind correction. The wind direction of 350 is about 80° from runway 27. And 80° is very close to a 90° angle. The quick estimate of the crosswind is very close to 20 kts, (19.7 kts) definitely more than the aircraft capability…
For a challenge, try celestial navigation that uses the sun and stars to locate one’s position. There is an excellent “add-on” in flightsim.to for using celestial navigation with MSFS. Many aircraft built about the time of WWII had plexiglass domes on top of the fuselage for navigators to take position fixes. The biggest problem with celestial navigation is clouds…
