Ye Olde E6B...

My dad gave me my E6B on my 16th birthday. I had recently started flying lessons and he knew that I was going to need it soon. For those of you not familiar with the E6B, it is probably one of the most common models of what they call a flight computer. Calling it a "Flight Computer" makes it sound fancier than it actually is. Mine is aluminum (but they are also very commonly made of plastic) and it is essentially a glorified slide rule. The number of tasks that one can accomplish using the E6B is really quite amazing I suppose. Time-distance-speed calculations, density altitude, true airspeed, Fahrenheit to Centigrade, Liters to Gallons, wind triangle problems, and a few more that I can't think of at the moment. It is an incredible tool and one that a pilot uses extensively in pilot training both as a student and an instructor. However, the effective and practical use of the E6B is probably a dying art given the advances in aircraft navigation systems. A modern GPS (Global Positioning System) or FMS (Flight Management System) can tell you everything an E6B can at the push of a button with unerring accuracy and speed. Given that, I figured that I had probably seen the last regular use of my E6B when I was hired as a pilot at Skyway back in '05. I brought it with to Africa because it seemed like something that I might need ocassionally but I never guessed that I would use it on every leg of every flight here. The DCA (Department of Civil Aviation) here requires that we keep and use a navigation log for every flight, not unlike the ones that I used as a private pilot. In addition, even if one has a GPS on board they require that there be an alternate manual means of making navigation calculations. It makes a great deal of sense really. As a flight instructor, I always made my students use their flight computers during cross country training even if the aircraft had a GPS, logically reasoning that you don't want to depend too heavily on one piece of technology to tell you where you are. If the GPS breaks you always need to a) know where you are and b) have an alternate means of calculating your navigation from that point. Enter the E6B. Every pilot here carries a flight computer with on every flight, whether it is an E6B or CR-5 or another version. I feel a little sheepish that as a professional pilot I had let my skills with the flight computer slide but it feels good to break the E6B out again and make use of it. Thanks Dad!