AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2022 - 94

RUDDER & WRENCH
FINALLY!
A CARD
FOR PILOTS.
Today's sophisticated
cockpits may have it all,
but if history teaches us
anything, it's to be
prepared for the
unexpected.
2%
Cash Back1
on
purchases at FBOs
& Flight Schools2-3
on purchases of
and
Aviation & Auto Fuel2-3
A CASH BACK1
REDEMPTION IS APPLIED AS A STATEMENT CREDIT.
QUARTERLY BONUS POINT CAP OF 2,500 POINTS
Visit
AOPA.org/creditcard
to learn more.
navigation. It's easy to understand. GPS
navigation equipment is highly accurate,
provides a wealth of capability and
information, and can be intuitive to operate-once
you've come to terms with the
avionics manufacturers' " knobology. " But
many are concerned about an overreliance
on GPS. According to traditional aeronautical
engineering principles, single-point
failures are to be avoided at all costs. In this
case, if the GPS system should somehow
become unreliable, or fail, the VHF-driven
MON would be the backup.
There are several ways GPS could let us
down. Our onboard GPS equipment could
malfunction. GPS signals could be jammed
by aggressors hoping to disable tracking
by military weapons-or our own military
could jam signals in practice exercises. GPS
satellite malfunctions could cause outages,
and solar storms could affect accuracy.
Recent news coverage following Russia's
practice destruction of one of its dead
weather satellites-creating a 1,500-particle
debris field-hints at expanding threats
in a new kind of space warfare. Evidence
suggests that Russia and China are constantly
attacking U. S. satellites using
lasers, jammers, and cyberbreaches.
To keep us aware of signal disruptions,
*Certain points and purchases restrictions apply, see full Rewards
Terms and Conditions for full details at AOPA.org/creditcard.
1. Rewards points can be redeemed for Cash Back or other items provided
through AOPA Pilot Rewards. A Cash Back redemption is applied
as a statement credit. The statement credit will reduce your balance
but you are still required to make at least your minimum payment. A
minimum of 2,500 points is needed to redeem for Cash Back. Values
for non-cash back redemption items such as merchandise, gift cards,
and travel may vary. 2. Please note that merchants self-select the category
in which transactions will be listed and some merchants may be
owned by other companies, therefore transactions may not be counted
in the category you might expect. Purchases made using Near Field
Communication (NFC), virtual wallets, or similar technology may not
be eligible for bonus points. 3.You will earn 4% Cash Back (1 regular
point + 3 bonus points = 4%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases
on select AOPA purchases, 3% Cash Back (1 regular point + 2 bonus
points = 3%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases made at select
AOPA partners, 2% Cash Back (1 regular point + 1 bonus points = 2%)
for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases made at FBOs (fixed based
operators), aviation and auto fuel, and flight schools, and 1% Cash
Back (or 1 point) for every $1 of other Net Merchandise Purchases. For
example, if you spend $100, you will earn 100 points which is equal to
$1 in Cash Back rewards. A maximum of 2,500 bonus points will be
awarded per calendar quarter, per rewards account. Please allow up
to five business days after the transaction posts to your account for
bonus points to be awarded.
the FAA publishes GPS notams. They're
worth checking. You can see them in published
notams, or you can view notams.
aim.faa.gov/notamSearch, click on the
" location " dropdown menu, select the
" predefined queries " entry, hit the " GPS
Notams " button, and then the search bar.
In airplanes with glass cockpits, a degradation
or loss of GPS signal integrity should
also be annunciated on a multifunction or
other display, giving you an instant alert of
a signal issue.
Let's say you're flying in instrument
conditions and entering an area where
GPS jamming exercises are in effect, and
94
AOPA PILOT / March 2022
the approach you had planned to use is
unavailable. You need to navigate away
from the area, or perhaps land. What's
your Plan B? Calling ATC for a new clearance
is an option, but that clearance may
include a rerouting via Victor airways (the
" V " stands for the " V " in VHF) followed by
a clearance to fly an ILS or VOR approach
to minimums. Are your VHF interception
and tracking skills rusty after years of flying
with GPS on direct routes to GPS-only
approaches?
If you receive AOPA Pilot with the
added Turbine Edition content, you probably
recognize Neil Singer's name. He
writes the " Mentor Matters " regular series
of articles. Singer is a high-time designated
pilot examiner who specializes in recurrency
and mentoring flights in technically
advanced piston aircraft and light- and
mid-size jets. He likes to check on pilots'
non-GPS navigation skills by simulating
an U.S. Air Force " jamming " exercise, and
then disabling a cockpit's GPS-driven features.
Those flying airplanes with three big
screens are in for a surprise. He deprives
his charges of synthetic vision, present
position, moving maps, GPS-based
pseudo-distance measuring equipment,
terrain awareness warning system, and-
of course-GPS nav guidance, including
flight plan information.
Now it's time for green, not magenta
needles. And for calling up VORs and other
VHF navaids to comply with a clearance to
intercept and track the outbound course
of a VOR or ILS approach, followed by a
procedure turn or other course reversal,
an intercept and tracking of the inbound
course, along with a descent to minimums.
Even though he allows pilots to use their
autopilots, Singer says only about a third of
the pilots can successfully manage the drill.
It's like instrument flying in the 1970s.
Back then, vacuum instruments and a single
nav/com were standard-issue. If you
had dual VOR heads, a heading bug, a
Stormscope, and a wing leveler you had
it made. Now all that's history. Today's
sophisticated cockpits may have it all,
but if history teaches us anything, it's to
be prepared for the unexpected. Some lessons
from the 1970s still have value-if we
keep them in mind.
tom.horne@aopa.org
http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch http://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2022
