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5 minutes ago, MBDiagMan said:

I have been using Foreflight for over six years and have never found the need for an E6B since.  I keep one in my flight bag but I have no explanation for why I do beyond the fact that I am 67 years old so it seems like it belongs there.

Does that mean I'll be flying with mine again in less than two years? :o

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9 hours ago, MBDiagMan said:

I have been using Foreflight for over six years and have never found the need for an E6B since.  I keep one in my flight bag but I have no explanation for why I do beyond the fact that I am 67 years old so it seems like it belongs there.

Do you still remember how to use it? Or do you carry it because a pilot is supposed to have one? If you can't use it, carrying it is wasted effort. When you have an electrical failure is no time to start flipping through the instructions.

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Yep, I can use it.  I can still use a slide rule too if one is put in front of me.  I went through college with a slide rule.  Scientific calculators came on the scene just as I finished college.  A slide rule and CRC tables were the tools of the day for me.  Giving away my age.

I keep a paper chart at hand.  It usually is not a current one, but I have yet to see dead batteries or electrical problems with a paper chart or an E6B.

Edited by MBDiagMan
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I too can use my 6 and was always amazed at how it works especially the wind correction would put me right on course. I confess I flight plan using Foreflight and works great but what I miss is planning with paper and plotter the time it took to lay out your plan really gave me a better feel for the trip. Part of the process of gaining knowledge is in the effort it takes to get there. I think next long CC I'm going to flight plan with my 6 paper and pencil then my Foreflight and after the trip see which gave me a more accurate result.

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This thread brought to mind something fun that happened at my house some years ago:

My son was/is a great mathematician.  When he was about fourteen or so I was cleaning out a drawer and came across one of my old slide rules.  I took it and showed it to him and he was very wide eyed.  I showed him how to use it and came up with a simple multiplication or something to show him how it worked.  When I finished, he ran to his room and came back almost immediately with a calculator.  He keyed in the problem, looked at the result and his eyes and mouth opened wide in amazement. He excitedly said "it's correct!"

 

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I remember in high school the Ti and hp were new and expensive as hell not too many had them and I remember the math and science kids (I was not one of course) used to see who could solve an equation first slide rule vs calculator, the slide rule guys always one.

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If these contests would have required three decimal place resolution, the slide rule guys would not have been able to compete, BUT yeah, with a competent operator you can slip out most things faster than with a calculator.

NOW!  I guess it is time to move to mechanical drawing versus AutoCAD.:)

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14 minutes ago, MBDiagMan said:

 

NOW!  I guess it is time to move to mechanical drawing versus AutoCAD.:)

I can whip out a mechanical sketch on an envelope pretty fast, and give it good dimensions with a calculator. Love my old HP41, even have a similar RPN calculator on my phone.  (Once you get used to not having an = button, it's hard to go back to using one.  .  . )  But to have something that looks good, is drawn to scale and can be routed for signatures, I love AutoCAD. Too bad we use ProE at work, the least user friendly CAD system out there, with an HMI designed by a schizophrenic sadist on a bad day . . .

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I can whip out a mechanical sketch on an envelope pretty fast, and give it good dimensions with a calculator. Love my old HP41, even have a similar RPN calculator on my phone.  (Once you get used to not having an = button, it's hard to go back to using one.  .  . )  But to have something that looks good, is drawn to scale and can be routed for signatures, I love AutoCAD. Too bad we use ProE at work, the least user friendly CAD system out there, with an HMI designed by a schizophrenic sadist on a bad day . . .

 

Still have my HP41 and use it. Cannot/refuse to use non-rpn calculator. Also have rpn app for my iPhone. We have AutoCAD but rarely use it. Mostly use Unigraphics (NX). Also use NASTRAN/PATRAN and Stresscheck

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

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I started doing construction drawings by hand then we moved to CAD CORE with a digitizer then on to Auto CAD with Sherpa the nice thing with that was all of our equipment symbology had associated materials that we could click on and access the materials and select values within including labor components. Then they moved on into a most cumbersome system within SAP the most God auful operating software ever devised by man. They even had us start using this program called LD pro that was put into operation before it even worked. Thankfully we are back to Autodesk. The lates thing now is all our pole loading calculations are done on Ocalc which is a 3 dimensional drawing tool that we construct facilities in simulation that proves all our strain and loading calculations. The funny thing is in my personal life I am a complete idiot when it comes to high tech but in my work I am using some extremely advanced engineering technology. 

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Who remembers the Curta mechanical calculators. I used them in European style road rallies - had a hand crank on top, and we got much better accuracy than our old "slip sticks". Used to walk around the Berkeley campus with a $100 K & B slide rule (very expensive in those days) in a leather scabbard with a belt loop. The height of nerdiness in the early to mid 1950s.

 

https://goo.gl/images/Bu8MBN

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

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I ran rallyes back when all the rich folks used Curtas. I never had my hands on one.

I competed in slide rule competition in Texas Interscholastic League. Really wonderful devices. One really can't be sad about super advancements in technology, but still...

Will we be someday saying things about "back when we drove our own cars".

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1 hour ago, DXB said:

I recently had to rummage through my flight bag to find my Sporty's electronic E6B to use for studying for the instrument written.  Turns out I hadn't used it a single time since passing my PPL checkride two years ago. 

I used my E6B just last week to figure the wind correction angle as I flew the A-N range into Idlewild.  

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Probably one could write an iPhone app to simulate an A-N range.  It could provide random fades, static noise, and simulate receiver drift.  We could offer the app bundled with an uncomfortable Bakelite headset and provide vintage approach plates to enhance the period experience.  

About 3 minutes of that and you'll be screaming for a glimpse of the magenta line.  

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