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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...What are the criteria for calculating headingWhat are the criteria for calculating heading
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10/20/2014 6:49 AM
 

GPS in a phone or tablet will have similar limitations to GPS in the iFly...you have to move before it knows what direction you're pointed.

But most smartphones these days have a built in magnetic compass that _does_ work standing still. I don't know that I'd use one to ink in a compass correction card, but I might use it to pencil it in until I could fly 100 miles to an airport with a compass rose. :-)

 
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10/20/2014 10:22 AM
 

You nail my concerns about non-aviation GPS units and compasses precisely. I don't know what their accuracy is, and thus don't know if I would be adjusting the aircraft compass to make it better or worse. Unless something pops up that's a clearly better solution, I think I will leave the compass alone (the bearing looks about right) until I am airborne, and can get a track made good. Then, if it makes sense, I can adjust the compass.

Regardless, I plan to do exactly what you suggest: eventually take the unit to the compass rose for more preise calibration.

But it would still be interesting to know just how far one must travel before one has a good track indication.

 
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10/20/2014 11:38 AM
 

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10/20/2014 12:58 PM
 

Of course you wouldn't get to use your iFly, but if your airport runway is surveyed and accurate, couldn't you use some kind of a protractor, or tape measures and math to determine N, S, E, & W? Or perhaps get a hiking compass, and sidewalk chalk and use it to make your own compass rose? Another idea may be to find a surveyor in town tell him/her your tale of woe. Maybe they'll lay out a compass rose for you in trade for looking at your plane, an airplane ride, a batch of cookies, or just the fun of it. Of course I have no real idea what type of equipment surveyors have, but it would seem they'd need to have a way to determine North and measure angles off it.

 
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10/20/2014 5:11 PM
 

The exact (within a degree or so) runway headings are published, but I would need to extrapolate them to north-south and east-west. I don't really see how I would do that on the ground. The only way I could do this that comes to mind is to use an aerial protograph, and mark n-s and e-w on the photo. As I see it, I'd have to then transfer this to the ground at the airport. That would mean wandering around on the ramp, either painting lines or making suitable marks.

If I were trying to build them a compass rose, this might be an approach, but it sounds like a lot of work just to calibrate one compass. I have my doubts about the city accepting this, or understanding what I was doing..

But I do think you have the start of a viable approach here. If it were my private airport, this is probably exactly the approach I'd use to build a compass rose. I may think on this a little.

Unfortunately, a hiking compass is of unknown accuracy, and thus unsuitable to calibrate an aircraft compass (my A&P side is showing, I know). I do have surveying equipment, left from another project, but I think this is another significant undertaking. I'd need some reference points, etc etc. I think the photo approach would yield almost as accurate results, with less hassle.

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...What are the criteria for calculating headingWhat are the criteria for calculating heading