The reason I can only say that I *think* we flew over the Riverside Annex is because I didn't look outside of the cockpit from shortly after takeoff until shortly before landing! When you hear a pilot talking about 'flying on instruments,' that's what they mean! Except for taxiing, takeoff and the very last stages of landing, the pilot doesn't need to look outside to see where to go. Until I get what is called an 'instrument rating,' it is unlikely I will look outside the plane much at all. In later entries, I'll try to explain how looking outside while trying to navigate can even be the wrong decision!
Today's lesson was all about VOR tracking, intercepting, and orientation. Imagine that you want to get somewhere in town by going in a straight line. Let's say that place is Taco Bell, because we all know that Taco Bell represents the center of all that is good in the culinary world. So there is only one line that links you and Taco Bell. You have to find that line and then figure out which way you want to walk, either away or from. Of course, the only reason to walk away from a Taco Bell is to get to another one. So far, just replace 'Taco Bell' with 'VOR' and you've got the picture, more or less.
Well, each and every VOR is unique, just like Taco Bells. They have a special frequency and you can tune into it with an instrument in the airplane! Its the same as there being only one person who takes your order at a time. They aren't working at any other Taco Bells at that moment, and VOR's can be identified similarly. Once you tune it in and double check to make sure you're listening to the proper VOR, you can use the instrument in the airplane to find that one special line between you and the Taco Bell... or, VOR, whichever.
So, to recap, we know there is a Taco Bell out there somewhere, we want to get to it, we can tune it in and listen to the one specific person working the drive-thru there, and we can figure out that one specific line that will take us towards or away from it! Awesome. Now all we have to do is turn our body (AKA the airplane) in that one specific direction and eventually we will get there! That is a very simple picture of just one use of the VOR. But it is a very common use, so its important to have a basic idea about how it works.
Okay, cool. That was today. Now its time for something funnier than a Taco Bell reference/obsession. I was talking to a good friend the other night who reminded me of this quote. The following situation is just kind of up there in the category of 'aviation lore' and it may or may not have happened. It probably did happen, or at least it could have happened. That being said, here we go...
A frustrated air traffic controller in Frankfurt, Germany, was giving taxi instructions to a British pilot. (As an aside, at bigger airports, taxi instructions can get pretty complicated and when you're driving a big airplane around on the ground, it can get to be a pretty tough task, I would imagine.) The following is said to have been heard over the radios between the German air traffic controller (ATC) and the British pilot:
...if you're confused, hit up a wiki and see what British pilots might have been doing over Frankfurt at night but not landing... circa 1944...
ATC: "Speedbird 197, taxi to holding point alpha via charlie, echo, hotel."
Pilot: "Bare with me, tower, I'm rechecking my airport diagram."
ATC: "For crying out loud, is this your first time at Frankfurt International?!"
Pilot: "Negative, tower, I've flown here twice before in 1944, but it was dark and I didn't land."
Well, that's all for today. I'm off to get dozens of pages of reading and studying done for class tomorrow and a group project meeting tonight. Until next time...
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