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Teaching Analog Skills in a Digital World

As we have progressed to a digital society, fewer and fewer learners and even instructors know how to use analog tools.

Learning new skills isn't just for students. [Courtesy: NOAA]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The increasing reliance on digital tools is eroding fundamental analog skills among learners, such as using a physical book index and reading an analog clock, both of which remain important for aviation.
  • Recent overhauls of digital resources, like AviationWeather.gov, can complicate access to essential information, with the new design proving less intuitive and efficient for pilots seeking quick weather briefings.
  • Despite digital advancements, the article stresses the continued importance of teaching pilots how to utilize traditional and backup resources, such as 1800WXBRIEF.com and phone briefings, for critical information in case primary digital tools fail.
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“If you don’t know something, don’t try to b.s. the examiner. Look it up.”

Do you remember getting this admonishment before your private pilot check ride? I do. It meant picking up the appropriate text—more often than not the FAR/AIM—and going to the back of the book to the index. The index was pretty easy to use as the words are arranged alphabetically. Sometimes it took a few tries to find what you were looking for—would the airspeed indicator be listed under airspeed or required instruments for VFR flight?—but with a little patience you could find it and follow the page number to the appropriate section.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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