Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow them to soar magnificently through it.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips. Remember... when it comes to being good pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 01.29.06

“Back in the day” before GPS, LORAN or widespread use of transponders in training airplanes, instructors put great store in teaching a procedure to “get found” if students became inexorably lost.  It was (and still is) called “VHF Direction Finding.”  Colloquially it’s known as a “DF Steer.”

Radio Triangulation

A DF (for Direction Finding) Steer requires three things:

1. An airplane equipped with a VHF radio.
2. A ground facility with DF capability.
3. A trained operator on the ground.

Generally DF Steers are provided by a Flight Service Station.  The lost pilot contacts FSS on any frequency and confesses “lostness.”  The FSS specialist then directs the pilot to a discrete radio frequency and ask him/her to key the microphone for, say, five seconds.  The DF equipment then displays the airplane’s direction from that frequency’s ground antenna (akin to a VOR radial).  The specialist relays this information to the pilot, hoping he/she will recognize some ground reference that helps confirm position along that line.

A good operator could direct the pilot to a second DF frequency for a second plot.  Assuming the airplane isn’t traveling fast, it will be at the displayed intersection of the two plot lines.

A great DF operator could then issue the pilot vectors to the nearest airport, occasionally asking for another transmission to update the plotted location.  This is especially helpful if the pilot is disoriented, or if he/she is lost in poor visibility and/or dark night conditions.

Aero-tip of the day:  Call your local FSS and ask when they can accommodate a training DF Steer -- maybe during your next Flight Review.  FSS probably needs the practice also.  Keep the DF Steer in your bag of tricks for the day you’re lost and an electrical failure or fire leaves you with only a comm radio.

FMI: Aero-Tips