electronic flight computers

[flint007]

hello All!

with all the math calculations, conversions, etc. i'm beginning to encounter as my ground study advances, i'm going to purchase one of those electronic flight computers. not only to help out now, but on the FAA exam as well. i would do the manual flight computer, but i admit i'm a gadget freak and appreciate all the bells and whistles that anything electronic brings and an electronic flight computer, from what i beginning to understand, brings much to the table--plus the fact that i'm just plain ol' lazy. i'm considering either the Jeppesen Techstar or the ASA CX-2 flight computers--any recommendations please?
i know they're both outstanding in what they accomplish, but i do need a little help in choice. Thanks to All once again.

 

[Goose Egg]

They're all about the same. I've got the TechStar, it does good. But I don't usually use it for anything but FAA tests and a little preflight planning here and there. In fact, it's most useful for conversions.

If you're lazy, stick with the whiz wheel--any electronic E6B is bound to be more complicated. But if I were going to buy a new electronic, I'd probably go with the ASA one because it has a few more features--the TechStar is pretty old school.

-Goose

 

[flint007]

Thank You very much Goose. being the gadget freak that i am, the more bells and whistles the better--at least for me. Thanks again.

 

[minitour]

Seriously.. a whiz wheel dosen't take batteries and can be done faster than an electronic one once you get good at it.

word up

 

[DJS]

E6b

hello All!

with all the math calculations, conversions, etc. i'm beginning to encounter as my ground study advances, i'm going to purchase one of those electronic flight computers. not only to help out now, but on the FAA exam as well. i would do the manual flight computer, but i admit i'm a gadget freak and appreciate all the bells and whistles that anything electronic brings and an electronic flight computer, from what i beginning to understand, brings much to the table--plus the fact that i'm just plain ol' lazy. i'm considering either the Jeppesen Techstar or the ASA CX-2 flight computers--any recommendations please?
i know they're both outstanding in what they accomplish, but i do need a little help in choice. Thanks to All once again.

I've got to be honest. I never actually learned how to use the whiz wheel. On my private checkride, I just did the basic calcs in my head and spun the wheel until it sort of matched the correct numbers. The DE laughed at my lame attempt to fool her, but said if I could do basic fuel, time, and wind approximations in my head, that was probably good enough.

For my instrument written, however, I used a Sporty's electronic E6B. It was invaluable for the multi-leg calculations.

Of course, it's now sitting in some drawer somewhere, completely unused for over 2 years. I mean, heck, my bladder is really the critical factor on whether I can make it to the next airport, not my fuel!

 

[Immelman]

Use the whiz wheel. Cheaper, smaller, stronger, doesn't die if it gets rained upon, etc. Calculators are good for when you need many decimal places, to find the arcsine of a number, to do a double integral, etc.

..those sporty's electronic e6b's annoy me to be honest. its the same class of goods as those cloud-level devices

 

[yzf6]

..those sporty's electronic e6b's annoy me to be honest. its the same class of goods as those cloud-level devices

Haha.. yeah, or those things they sell that tell you how to enter the traffic pattern..
Seriously flint007, I like gadgets as much as the next guy, but save the $70 and use the old wheel. It's been around since the year 1450, so it's gotta be worth something. They've got the instructions printed right on the wheel and you can have a whole flight plan figured out on it by the time you're done changing the batteries on the electronic one. Someone gave me one and it hasn't been turned on since, so if you still want one there's a probably a bunch of people that'll send you theirs for free.

 

[flint007]

Thank You Everyone for the responses--i think i'm going to have to re-think this whole electronic flight computer thing. i really appreciate the inputs guys. Thanks again.