Am I honestly a retard???

[TonyC]

... So at this point I feel like a total retard, and all I can do is give some excuse about using calculators since 5th grade...

Now I know that I SHOULD be able to divide numbers on paper, but does anyone think she was just a little over the top?

Oh, way over the top. WHO in their right mind should expect a high school graduate to be capable of simple arithmetic!?!?



To answer your first question, though, ... oh, nevermind.

 

[TonyC]

Maybe I'm giving this guy too much credit, ...

yupp

 

[UnAnswerd]

Thanks for the replies. I feel a little better knowing that using a calculator is not considered an immoral act. Although, I do agree with those who sugjested I sharpen up on the math skills.

 

[UnAnswerd]

Oh, way over the top. WHO in their right mind should expect a high school graduate to be capable of simple arithmetic!?!?

I've yet to see even one reply from you that wasn't degrading in nature. Therefore, I will not attempt to defend myself knowing full-well such actions will be done in vain. Despite this, the point you raise may be considered valid to the majority. With this in mind, I will give an honest answer. The calculator was a devise that was legal to use throughout many years of my schooling. Eliminating the need to figure computations on paper also eliminated the need to remember how to do so. Eventually, prior teachings became forgotten, and the road to dependance (on the calculator) was established. Forgive me father.

 

[Whirlwind]

Your 20 miles out from the airport at 10,000 feet. Field Elevation is 1,000 feet. Your doing 120kts accross the ground (or is the ground doing 120kts under you?) anyway, when do you start your descent. By the way its night time, so you can't see the keys of your calculator, and its solar powered.

See the need for division. And this is just the tip of the iceburg.

No, I don't... That is simply a formula that you figure out once for each airplane you fly, it doesn't require the ability to do long division on paper.

An airplane that travels 120kts and descends 500fpm is a 4 times airplane. Take the altitude to be lost in thousands, multiply by 4, and you have how many miles out you need to start down, plus 5 or 10 miles so you don't descend into the traffic pattern.

The answer to your question is 41 miles if you want a 5 mile approach.

9 thousand feet to lose
x
4 (120kts is 2 miles per minute + 500fpm is 2 minutes per thousand feed)
=
36
+
5 mile approach

You can figure what "times" airplane you fly by using the ground speed in miles per minute and the descent rate in how many minutes it takes per thousand feet.

For example, in the Diamondjet, we flight plan at 400kts, but in the descent we pick up some speed, so I use 7 miles a minute as the ground speed. 420kts / 60 = 7

We descend at 2,000fpm most of the time, so that works out to .5 minute per thousand feet.

7 x .5 = 3.5

So the Diamond is a 3.5 times airplane.

Lets say we are crusing at FL330 and the airport is at 2,000ft. That is 31,000ft to lose.

You could get an exact number, but it is easier to just figure on 100 to 110 miles out as the descent point. All too often, ATC will control this anyway.

This of course changes on shorter routes into the mountains. If we're only at FL280 and the airport is at 6,000ft, then we only have 22,000ft to lose.

22 x 3.5 = about 75 miles

 

[Whirlwind]

Maybe I'm giving this guy too much credit, but I don't think this is the kind of division that he's talking about. Your example uses nice round numbers that are trivial to deal with in your head. I think he's thinking of math problems more along the lines of, "Total moment is 264,614.16, and your weight is 2257.8, what's your CG? Whaddya mean you need a calculator? To be a professional, you need to be able to do it on paper!"

Ahh, that is different...

But then that sort of thing is figured on the ground, not in the air.

I can't do that on paper either, this is why we have calculators.

 

[Whirlwind]

The calculator was a devise that was legal to use throughout many years of my schooling. Eliminating the need to figure computations on paper also eliminated the need to remember how to do so. Eventually, prior teachings became forgotten, and the road to dependance (on the calculator) was established. Forgive me father.

Ditto... 5th grade was the last year calculators wer forbidden, after that we all had them. By high school algebra, they were REQUIRED, we all had TI-35 or TI-36X calculators in class, you got a demerit if you didn't bring yours.

 

[TonyC]

I've yet to see even one reply from you that wasn't degrading in nature. Therefore, I will not attempt to defend myself knowing full-well such actions will be done in vain. Despite this, the point you raise may be considered valid to the majority. With this in mind, I will give an honest answer. The calculator was a devise that was legal to use throughout many years of my schooling. Eliminating the need to figure computations on paper also eliminated the need to remember how to do so. Eventually, prior teachings became forgotten, and the road to dependance (on the calculator) was established. Forgive me father.

Perhaps it is a generational phenomenon, or perhaps not. When I went to school we were expected to write legibly, spell correctly, and perform mathematics with pencils, tables, and - - gasp - - even a slide rule in high school. Today my children are not expected to even spell correctly. It sickens me. I was embarrased a few weeks ago to admit to my daughter that I had forgotten the quadratic formula. I would rather die that admit to this forum that I had forgotten how to DIVIDE.


Sorry if you were offended by my response - - I thought I was being rather tame.

 

[-Xavier-]

My ground school teacher won't do hardly anything without a calculator because why wouldn't you? We are taught to take flashlights with us at night when we fly in our flight bag. Yes, you need a general understanding of how math works, but there is no harm in using a calculator, IMO.

 

[Goose Egg]

Did you guys know that you can multiply and divide with your slide rule E6B? It's actually pretty simple. Consult your instruction booklet. No calculators necessary.

-Goose