Wind triangle?

[pwendell]

@BD King...

The first time i've seen it, or anybody else in my CFI class, was when we opened the CFI test prep.

It doesn't pop up anywhere else (not to my knowledge). The basics of using geometry and vectors to figure out what wind does to an airplane, isn't hard. Its this stupid thing the FAA came up with and the way it goes about explaining/illustrating it that confuses me - and apparently, i'm not the only one.

After looking over it more, i am starting to understand it better - but if asked on the CFI checkride, i would in no way explain it the way the 'book' does. There are simpler ways of going about it.

The 'Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge' explains the theory and use of the wind triangle. I found it quite usefull for reinforcing the basic concept of how wind affects navigation. The wind side of the E6B is just a kind of graphical representation of the wind triangle.

 

[nosehair]

she went into a rant about how us youngins aren't trained to the highest standards of yesteryear or some crap.Give me a break. She was a crusty old broad, like 70 or something.

Here's the deal. I have had several occasions at today's modern Wal-Mart check-out counters where the "computer" went down as I was checking out, and the "youngin" behind the counter could not do basic math to count out the change. Us old crusty farts know from many long years of experience that it is likely that some day you will encounter a "computer failure" and have to actually use your brain. It will probably happen. I know, right now you are full of piss and vinagar and you believe this manual brain labor is a bunch of crap. But when you input wrong data into a computer or calculator and you don't know the basic estimate of the outcome, you won't recognize the wrong answer. Knowing how to do a wind triangle gives your brain the ability to make a wild-a$$ guess at the effects of the wind, and your E6B is just giving you the specific detail. If you input wrong data, you are more likely to see it.
Fair enough?

 

[whaleroast]

Amazingly, despite the fact that I have not learned how to draw a wind triangle correctly, I am still alive. And so are all of my students. You must also pull out a sextant on your night flights and take readings on the stars?
Show your student on the sectional their route of flight, take the forcasted winds and give them an idea as to how they will blow the aircraft off the route. Then, take out Mr. E6B and show them how to figure out all of the stuff a wind triangle would. That's it. They'll get the idea and you won't bore them to death.