Analog cross-country flight planning begins with a paper sectional, navlog, plotter, and mechanical E6-B. [Credit: Adobe Stock]
Key Takeaways:
Learning analog flight planning with paper sectionals and mechanical E6-Bs is crucial for primary pilot learners to understand the fundamental principles of navigation and cross-country planning, rather than just relying on electronic flight bags (EFBs) for automated calculations.
Pilots must develop analog navigation skills to provide essential redundancy and a critical backup for potential EFB failures, as devices can malfunction or lose signal, requiring the ability to navigate manually.
While EFBs offer benefits like easy updates and cockpit organization, they should be used as supplementary tools to enhance navigation, not as a crutch that replaces foundational knowledge and the ability to manually plan and fly.
When I spread the Seattle VFR sectional out on the desk, the private pilot learner breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness you use paper,” he said, going on to tell me that he wanted to learn using paper sectionals and navlogs, and once he mastered those, he might move into using an electronic flight bag (EFB).
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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.
