Learning How to (Try to) Not Get Lost

Pro of a plane: it's a straight shot to your destination, no curves in the roads or traffic lights.
Cons of a plane: it's far easier to get lost.  And there's no gas station to stop and ask for directions at.

So today, much to my utter dismay, weather was terrible.  By the time the ceiling got to a reasonable level, the winds picked up so quickly that even the jets were having..interesting...take-offs and landings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_7Xt2ga-s  ok, so not that bad, but you get the idea).  So, today got to be a ground school day.  Todays topic: how to find your way from one place to another, with minor troubles, and how to avoid those troubles.  Yay.

Every aircraft is equipped with what is called a VOR (VHF HF Omni-direction Radio Range).  Basically, it's an instrument that you set based on a radio frequency and receive a signal from a ground station that allows you to find out what VOR(s) you're "talking" to, via either Morse code or now there's often a voice recording, and then sends a signal to the instrument of where it is in relation to you via a magnetic bearing.  These ground stations are scattered all over and are also often stationed at airports.  You can pick one if you want to go to a set point, which I'll do when I do a cross-country to Lynchburg, which has a ground station right at the airport.  When I dial in the frequency, and get on the approximate heading I'll predict I need to be on to get there, the needle on my VOR instrument will hopefully line up to the center and a little flag with a forward arrow showing that I'm headed directly to the ground station/airport.  Success!  If I happen to get slightly off course due to wind or just too much sightseeing, the little needle isn't on center anymore and I make course corrections till it's centered again.  Pretty niffy little bugger.

What to do when there's no VOR to help guide you?  I get to use my two eyes nature gave me and look for landmarks.  On aviation maps they list things such as railroad tracks, major roads, golf courses, manufacturing plants, tank farm (yes, apparently they grow storage tanks around here.  They're like dogs, they start off all small and cute then get really big and just sit there).  The points is that you plot a heading before you go, find landmarks on your course, figure how much time should pass between those points, and wing it (pun not intended).  This all is called dead reckoning.  Creative, I know.  This is really only for short flights and day flights, obviously.  If you pass too long between major landmarks, it's easy to get lost and that's bad news bears.

I'm pretty sure I can add "knowing how to read a map" to my list of good qualities now.  Learning GPS is my next feat, although GPS basics are pretty easy and using a moving map GPS is a skill I've picked up from all the long trips in the car watching our good friend Ms. Smarty Pants (Nuvi).  We just don't like to rely solely on GPS for obvious reasons.

Off to watch the game and power through some homework