The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I prefer to keep my paper navigational device North forward in the plane.
This was a habit developed while using charts in my sailboat.
Every time I try to align the paper navigational device to my route of flight, I get mixed up on which way I'm going.

For the record, EVERY other pilot I've ever flown with has told me its SO much easier with the paper navigational device aligned with the route of flight but I still don't like it.

David, at work in the helicopter world, where a high percentage of pilots are military trained, in the tradition of inter service rivalry, I call pilots who set north up a Marine. There of course is nothing wrong with being a Marine and setting your device to track north up, unless your traveling in any other direction of course. You see as an Army Aviator we were taught the extra critical step how to turn the map around in the direction your traveling. Amazing.

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:David, at work in the helicopter world, where a high percentage of pilots are military trained, in the tradition of inter service rivalry, I call pilots who set north up a Marine. There of course is nothing wrong with being a Marine and setting your device to track north up, unless your traveling in any other direction of course. You see as an Army Aviator we were taught the extra critical step how to turn the map around in the direction your traveling. Amazing.

I too prefer the "track up" display.

I may have to start turning my maps.
As a prior Navy guy, the last thing I want is to be mistaken for a Marine

Oddly enough, I prefer track up on my digital navigational devices.

Always north up, that way the words aren't upside down when heading south!

I plan flights on a chart table with North Up.
I fly airplanes track up.

I always used to plan and fly with north up. Now I just use a GPS.

I've never been in the military so I can go either way with a paper chart. It usually depends on which way I'm going and how I feel that particular day. Usually the chart is held north up.

The GPS is a different deal altogether. I always use track up on the moving map GPS. That way, the pink line is vertical if I'm on course. If I have turned off course, the pink line will be tilted and without crunching any numbers and with minimal brainpower, I immediately know which way to turn and how much with just a glance. With north up, that doesn't work.

"Follow the magenta brick road"

I pretty much follow the same manner as Richard. I, too, wasn't in the military so I don't have that experience to refer to or untrain myself.

David, I always heard that the Marine Corp was a division of the Navy. Is this not correct

170C wrote:David, I always heard that the Marine Corp was a division of the Navy. Is this not correct

I wasn't going to point that out Frank.

Well I was invited into the military by my government and ended spending over 6years there and found different parts of the our military read maps differently.it was hard at first but being where you are is the most important information you can have .Being a foot soldier it was where you are and how long to the next rock . when I took up flying in the military it was track up . I taught my wife to navigate ,Big mistake. even when a couple miles off course ,she is on my back. I am there to have fun.

I would think that flyers of RC model airplanes would be good at being able to read a chart oriented top north in view of their ability to fly their models in all different directions.
I have never had any problem of becoming directionally coufused when flying an airplane in any direction with the chart at top north.

blueldr wrote:I would think that flyers of RC model airplanes would be good at being able to read a chart oriented top north in view of their ability to fly their models in all different directions.

That is an excellent observation BL. As a RC pilot I can tell you that becomes second nature once you are one with the plane while flying it and not just watching it fly. Coming from a commercial printing family my early days where spent learning to read upside down and backward as that is how Linotype is. It's not hard but it does take practice.

As an Army Aviator I was trained to read a map in any direction. Sectionals of course were used up high at 1000 ft agl but when we got low and on a topographical map you always turned it to the direction of travel.

Today I fly EMS as many of you know. My job is to throw in a coordinate and fly directly to it. It is amazing how hard it really is to find an emergency scene with fire trucks and ambulances with their lights flashing. Hard to believe but it's true. Anyway I've been caught once or twice when the scene was in a northerly heading, getting to the scene, not being able to find it and looking at the GPS for situational awareness of my position in relation to the coordinates, and by this time the zoom on the GPS is at 1 mile, and no matter which direction I think I should turn towards the coordinates, it's wrong. It is that moment when I really don't need the extra pressure, I realize some darn Marine before me set the GPS to North up.

blueldr wrote:I would think that flyers of RC model airplanes would be good at being able to read a chart oriented top north in view of their ability to fly their models in all different directions.
I have never had any problem of becoming directionally coufused when flying an airplane in any direction with the chart at top north.

RC pilots use charts? I always pictured them as map users.