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Stupid questions about Naval Aviation (Pt 2)
- Thread starter mo7stanley
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Morse code was taught in Jeremiah Denton's day. Some years later it was still being taught in Basic (VT-1), when I went through...but all quickly forgotten after taking and passing the Morse Code test. About the only guys who remembered it were into amateur radio.
We used to "tune and identify" navaids, but were mostly just happy to hear some dits and dahs, having no idea what it spelled.
[Of course we could and sometimes did look at the _ _ _ and . . . printed on the chart or approach plate, but usually didn't.]
In FO instrument training we're taught to tune, identify, and monitor the station. Some of the sim instructors were anal in that they made you turn up the volume of the nav frequency so you could hear the beeps the entire time so you were "sure" you were listening to the right one. Really just an annoyance in terms of listening for their comms and hearing the beeps. I can understand the application of it like exhelodriver pointed out, but other than that it's annoying. I did hear somewhere though that instead of the morse code they're going to switch to a voice for the letters, so you'd hear November Papa Alpha being repeated over and over at Pensacola, for example.
It is probably worth it to check the dots and dashes with the chart. You don't have to know Morse Code to do that. It's just one more safeguard to make sure you didn't punch in the freq of the wrong NAVAID. If they go to voice, it'll be that much easier, though for some stations it'll take an equipment upgrade.
The "monitor" part is an Air Force thing, too--I had USAF students who insisted on keeping the NAVAID turned up. Whatever floats your boat, as long as I can select it off on my audio panel. I think that's a holdover from analog instruments, which now remains part of the harassment package. Digital stuff will let you know when the signal's too weak to be reliable--the needle will disappear.
The "monitor" part is an Air Force thing, too--I had USAF students who insisted on keeping the NAVAID turned up. Whatever floats your boat, as long as I can select it off on my audio panel. I think that's a holdover from analog instruments, which now remains part of the harassment package. Digital stuff will let you know when the signal's too weak to be reliable--the needle will disappear.
On a somewhat related topic, when in a relatively low hover over the water (40 feet is what we typically were at in the H-3 when using the sonar) you can sometimes pick up tacan stations at ranges significantly farther away then you can higher up.
I know guys who were landing in Bahrain who could talk to the ship via datalink (SHF) significantly beyond the range of the system due to ducting. Those 'trons are crazy things.
Of course there was always that one sim instructor who, after your tuning & identifying and as soon as you stopped monitoring, he would fail you ADF and you would never know it.
And THUS ... was born one of the rationales for the Second Officer ... the GIB ... i.e., the 3rd man in a 3 man airline cockpit crew ...Of course there was always that one sim instructor who, after your tuning & identifying and as soon as you stopped monitoring, he would fail you ADF and you would never know it.
Part of the approach brief and part of the S/O's duties was to listen to/monitor the IDENT while the guys in the window seats shot the ADF approach ...
*edit* ... oh, yeah -- and the Second Officer is ALSO very important for another reason: someone has to run up & down the ladder and get coffee for the guys w/ the window seats.
Of course there was always that one sim instructor who, after your tuning & identifying and as soon as you stopped monitoring, he would fail you ADF and you would never know it.
Huh. . .my FTI says ADF ident will be monitored continuously when shooting the approach.
Of course there was always that one sim instructor who, after your tuning & identifying and as soon as you stopped monitoring, he would fail you ADF and you would never know it.
Those guys need more to do with their lives...
Morse code was taught in Jeremiah Denton's day. Some years later it was still being taught in Basic (VT-1), when I went through...but all quickly forgotten after taking and passing the Morse Code test. About the only guys who remembered it were into amateur radio.
We used to "tune and identify" navaids, but were mostly just happy to hear some dits and dahs, having no idea what it spelled.
[Of course we could and sometimes did look at the _ _ _ and . . . printed on the chart or approach plate, but usually didn't.]
I have seen most instructors here not even bother to turn the radio receive on for the NAVAIDS in the local area (even up into LA) because they fly there all the time and can tell if the needle is correct based on their experience.... fine. I guess you could argue that.
But I personally believe in identifying ALL navaids, particularly if it's a flight you haven't done on a routine basis. It is VERY easy to listen to dits and dats and assume it's right, but what if you tuned the localizer for a parallel runway? Often times multiple frequencies are listed on a chart, for example parallel localizers. So you assume it's right because you heard what you wanted to hear as correct, but now you're setting up for an approach into a mishap.
That was catmando's point. If you didn't monitor the ADF for the duration of the approach, the IP would fail it and you'd never know. That's why for ADF approaches, specifically, you must monitor it the whole time since there's no other apparent failure indication.
Well, there is one other 'indication' ... it would be when you crash & burn.
Crashing & burning: as always, the great equalizer.
The ultimate check-ride.
If you tuned the localizer or any other freq for the wrong runway, etc., listening to dits and dats are the least of your worries. Just sayin'
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