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Magnetic compass

The magnetic compass provides a rough check on winds, as compared to GPS track. Mine is quite close to correct, and I do look at it as a cross-check.
 
Question. Any of you whiskey compass advocates use a 406 ELT? Why? Let RCC do some dead reckoning magic. But they don’t do that and you don’t want them to try, right? Hell, try dead reckoning through Houston Texas to get to a concert. Bet you won’t do that, either.

I guess if all I did was fly in Bravo airspace, I might not care about compass accuracy. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

MTV
 
G3x provides wind status. I guess I should put some tape over that display to level the playing field. Why confuse things with accurate information!
 
I guess if all I did was fly in Bravo airspace, I might not care about compass accuracy. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

MTV
You have that right Mike. Some of these folks who are poo pooing the whisky compass are spoiled with their GPSs. They need to fly north of Yellowknife with nothing more than a sectional chart and compass under an overcast sky. All the sectional charts look the same. :wink:
 
You have that right Mike. Some of these folks who are poo pooing the whisky compass are spoiled with their GPSs. They need to fly north of Yellowknife with nothing more than a sectional chart and compass under an overcast sky. All the sectional charts look the same. :wink:


P... on em, let them fly in circles until they run out of gas:cry: Not.
 
Just to add to the discussion, here's a screen shot of the compass on my phone. The gray circle with the cross hairs is a level indicator. Not important for the compass but handy to have. One feature of this compass is it's accurate in any position. Horizontal, vertical, upside down, it doesn't matter. When I set up my G3X it required establishing a position and subsequently rotating the plane 90* 4 times for the magnetometer to initialize. I used this compass app to do it. A compass is a simple provider of direction information. This one works better than any whiskey compass I've ever used.

And with a tap of my finger while flying? My phone turns into a completely accurate attitude indicator, displays very authentic synthetic vision, and provides a GPS based instrument panel. Or I can go old school and select the compass. And then turn on the flash light function to read the paper chart in the dark. But my phone has charts and updates them automatically so they're always current. As a result, I don't own any paper charts.
 

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I admit that is very neat. If I was younger and actually had any place to go it would certainly be a good investment in both $ and the time it would take for this old man to learn how to absorb it. I still have my old flip phone and am told that if it quits I'll have to get something smarter. Right now? After 5 years I finally found someplace my old whiskey compass would work on the Acroduster 2. The entire fuselage is slightly magnetized. I mounted it on the grab handle at rear of center section and it's now almost perfect.....A smart phone might have been easier? But the old compass works. Good enough for me
 
I saw a J-5 once that had the compass mounted in front of the windshield on the boot cowl. Claim of no mag interference there was the reason. And it was a boat compass with a clear top dome. Alaskan get 'er done job.

Gary
 
I believe that the point of the compass is, 'when all else fails . . .' Neat phone apps. Cool screens. Even the ones that have a backup battery. But electrical systems fail. And most people are NOT on top of the replacement schedule for their backup batteries (yes! You!).

So, in crap visibility, when even your ship's battery is low, or you're on the ground and need to know which way to walk, that whiskey compass still works. Even when it's so cold that the battery life in your phone is cut in half, it works.

So, if you don't want one, then don't get one. I can't spend the time/energy caring about that. As the movie line goes "it's your ass, Cochise".

Web
 
I believe that the point of the compass is, 'when all else fails . . .' Neat phone apps. Cool screens. Even the ones that have a backup battery. But electrical systems fail. And most people are NOT on top of the replacement schedule for their backup batteries (yes! You!).

Web

100% correct there. As nice as having a phone with Foreflight is, I can't count the number of times my phone has died because it was too cold out and the battery froze or it was too hot and it overheated. I would absolutely NOT, NOT EVER rely on a phone as a backup compass or any nav aid for that matter.

I'm just as guilty as anyone else of writing off my mag compass as a relic but after a couple incidents where my GPS lost signal and I was forced to use dead reckoning, it's definitely a skill that needs to be honed and with a good whiskey compass on board.

Doesn't matter how cool or nice your garmin G3xyz is, equipment fails and more complex equipment fails more often.
 
Magnetic compasses make about as much sense as 121.5 ELTs. Worthless weight. There are better alternatives. My Cub uses a magnetometer. In my 180 I set my DG by the GPS. In both cases I have an iPhone as a backup. Welcome to 21st century living using 20th century regulations. Only in aviation.
Isn't a magnetometer a "magnetic direction indicator" when paired with a display (EFIS, MFD, whatever)? I've always assumed it was, since I've seen at least one certified plane with a magnetometer, but no compass...
 
CAR 3 specifically calls out a magnetic direction indicator. It does not state 'compass'. I'd go with that, but remember that it needs to be a 'primary' instrument as it's required to be installed.

Web
 

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Isn't a magnetometer a "magnetic direction indicator" when paired with a display (EFIS, MFD, whatever)? I've always assumed it was, since I've seen at least one certified plane with a magnetometer, but no compass...

Absolutely it is. A far better one than a whiskey compass. Of course the information is fed into a computer and integrated into moving maps, attitude indicators, chart overlays, etc, all electronic and apparently unpopular with the faithful here, but I like living on the edge.

My Cessna still has the requisite installed compass. Just because I have it doesn't mean I use it, and I don't. I have better options available. That anyone argues in opposition is hard to believe. The statistical chance of my electronics failing me is much smaller than the chance that my whiskey compass will magically become something useful.
 
What I recall from my partial panel training is a feeling of confidence that if everything else might fail, simple things like a compass, clock and turn/bank can get my fat out of the fire. I appauld the modern aids that make flying easier than playing a video game. I'm certainly not opposed to better options, but if I was still flying like I did years ago I would still want that old whiskey compass even if I never hopefully had to actually look at it, except for a little pause of conformation just before I shove the throttle forward.
 
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