ths@lanl.ARPA (12/05/84)
Ahhh, the old "electronic calculator in the cockpit" debate! Unless you fly something more exotic than a 210 or Bonanza, I can't think of any good reason for an electronic calculator, especially the $60 and up jobs being hustled by many of the FBO's. Of course you can use the $10 ones for doing virtually everything required of a private pilot. But have you ever tried using one of them in a cockpit? Hitting the right button in anything but smooth air can be a real challenge. The liquid crystal displays can't be seen at night with any ease and if your luck is anything like mine we both know when the battery is going to go dead. Now I can hear the snickers from you guys, but honest, I use my trusty E6B on every cross country flight. I can easily figure time and distance within a minute and a mile (who needs greater accuracy?),and fuel burn to within a tenth-of-a-gallon. I cross check the winds aloft with the back side to see how good (or bad) the winds aloft forecast was. The E6B is easily operated with one hand; will hold the last setting indefinately; and never needs batteries. I'll admit that when I havn't used it for a few months I may have to think about the "golden rules" for a moment (like the index always points to the "rate"). I still insist that my students use one while training with me, and I tell them all of the stories about what "other" pilots do with them as soon as they have passed their private check ride. But hopefullly, they have learned to use the critter well during our training and feel comfortable with it. I often have fun with the instrument student when I ask them to perform a climb gradient calculation with the beast. I like the small aluminium job the best, but I also have a plasticized cardboard job that I have had for four years and has held up very well. For those of you who might need the bigger numbers its not a bad unit. I like the small one because it fits in my shirt pocket and doesn't get lost. If you have a problem loosing things in the cockpit I also have a 5 foot model......