Paper Charts, Whiz-Wheel, and a Plotter

There is no doubt that Electronic Flight Bags are here to stay and the days of the trusty E6-B are a thing of the past.  In fact, the other day I pulled out my old metal E6-B and calculated the true airspeed of my helicopter; just to see if I remembered how to use it.  After a couple of quick turns of the dial and a refresher on which triangle to use, I found what I was looking for.  For fun, I hopped on my phone an did the same exercise with a Google search.  Not surprisingly, I found the same answer in just about the same amount of time.  Let me point out, I was not flying or at the controls at the time.

In any case, I put the E6-B in its leather case and went about my day but I was burdened with a thought: Do EFBs actually make things better?  I think, and most pilots would likely agree, that EFBs certainly do.  They make flight planning more efficient and some much information is at your fingertips.  With a few taps, a pilot can find nearly anything on ForeFlight or GarminPilot.

But when I give a Private Pilot applicant an assignment for a practical test, why is so much information missing?  I don’t think the information is missing because the EFB doesn’t present it, I think it is missing because the pilot-to-be doesn’t really understand where the EFB gets that information.

For example, I might ask an applicant to discuss the hazards of flying near a Parachute Jumping Area.  Of course, the applicant explains that s/he should be on the lookout for falling objects and listen to the “appropriate” frequency.  That is about where the answer stops.  When asked to provide details of the jumping operations such as times to expect jumpers or what frequencies to use, the applicant is at a loss.  Many of them start searching through various pages on their EFB, fumbling away.  As another example, I might ask an applicant what happens to the airspace surrounding a towered airport after the control tower closes and when the tower is expected to close.  Again, the applicant fumbles through pages on his or her tablet but comes up empty-handed.

Sadly, this is far more common than uncommon.  While the applicant understands information is published, they have no idea that the publication is actually a real book called the Chart Supplement or Airport/Facility Directory.

The point of an EFB is to enhance our situational awareness, not limit our knowledge.  Here is a good case study.  During a Commercial Pilot checkride, I asked the applicant to explain why his groundspeed just a few knots faster as he traversed rising terrain despite a negligible change in wind or indicated airspeed.  He searched his digital navigation log for any clues that might lead him to an adequate response.  What he failed to consider was that true airspeed increases with altitude.  In all of his training, he and his instructor relied on the EFB to calculate true airspeed without truly understanding what true airspeed really means.  Yes, this is a failure on the part of the instructor but it goes to demonstrate how the EFB has limited knowledge.  Again, this is far more common than uncommon.

It is easy to tap on any airspace, using the EFB, and determine its vertical boundaries and associated frequencies.  In Southern California, there is a Terminal Radar Service Area (TRSA) around the Palm Spring airport.  I acknowledge that TRSAs are very uncommon but they are, nonetheless, a part of the National Airspace System.  While any pilot can select the TRSA on his or her EFB and gather information regarding frequencies, altitudes, and times of operation, their understanding of participation in such airspace is woefully deficient.  Much of the information regarding airspace is not just gathered by a few taps on an EFB but by studying Chapter 3 of the Aeronautical Information Manual and/or 14 CFR Parts 71 and 73.  The information contained in the regulation and AIM help the pilot understand the complexities of the airspaces that are depicted on their EFB.

In preparation for a recent Commercial Pilot practical test, I assigned the applicant coordinates for a landing zone.  I’ll be honest, I selected the landing zone on my ForeFlight and provided them to the applicant as part of the assignment.  I didn’t pull out a paper chart and count degrees, minutes and seconds.  The applicant prepared with an EFB flight plan from the departure airport to the coordinates I provided but stated that they struggled converting them (which I found odd since I provided them in Degrees, Minutes, Seconds or DMS).  This, of course, opened a line of questioning about using coordinates like “What do you mean, convert them?”

The applicant had only used their EFB for determining coordinates in Degrees and Decimal Minutes or DDM (40° 40.123’ N, 113° 0.35’ W).  Even then, the applicant had never actually programmed coordinates into the EFB; instead, they tapped the screen and selected “Direct To” from the options.  This sparked a discussion on where coordinates originate and what is meant when someone says degrees, minutes, and seconds.  They clearly didn’t understand that the conversion is based on the fact that the earth contains 360 degrees, each degree is split into 60 equal parts called minutes and each minute is further split into 60 equal parts called seconds.  Much to my dismay, the applicant had never looked closely at a chart to discover that it had quadrangles with longitude and latitude markings.  This meant that they didn’t know those quadrangles included further information for determining coordinates.  If they didn’t understand this basic navigation principle, how could they expect to understand converting coordinates.

I recently disapproved an applicant on a Private Pilot add-on examination because he couldn’t adequately determine the time and distance between two airports using his plotter.  To give the applicant some credit, he had a very nice flight plan on his EFB but I could not figure out how he determined a 25NM flight would take 16.6 minutes when he planned to fly at 60 knots.  25 nautical miles at 60 knots should take 25 minutes.  When I questioned him, he dutifully pulled out his paper chart and plotter as if someone told him I might ask a question like this.  His EFB had several waypoints between the two airports which totaled 25 nautical miles but he wanted to check his work using a paper chart and a plotter.  It was evident that he hadn’t actually used his plotter much before test day because he kept using the incorrect scale, deepening his confusion.  He had a Terminal Aera Chart but was using the Sectional scale.  Now he had no idea why his “numbers were off”.

Unfortunately for him, he could not bounce back and there was no way I could use questioning to help him get back on track.  It was obvious that he had relied so heavily on his EFB that he couldn’t even recognize that the chart displayed on his EFB was, in fact, a TAC.  After I stopped the test and went into the debrief function, we discovered that he had incorrectly selected the aircraft used on his EFB.  Rather than a helicopter, he had selected the Piper Cherokee he commonly flies.  He plans to fly that aircraft at around 90 knots, not the 60 he planned for the helicopter.  A quick run of the numbers on a paper chart with a plotter were impossible because he hadn’t ever practiced it.  By the way, I think 60 knots is an inadequate speed but that is a discussion for another time.

Electronic flight bags are an exceptional tool.  I use mine almost every day.  At a quick glance, I can gather so much information and make changes quickly.  If my EFB is up-to-date, I have everything that I once carried in a big backpack in one iPad Mini.  The important thing about an EFB is not that you have everything at hand but that you understand what you have and can apply it as necessary.  To best use the EFB, the pilot must first understand where the product is getting its information.  ForeFlight doesn’t magically create an Instrument Approach Procedure or generate its own sectional chart.  I think pilots and instructors would be well-served to think of an EFB as a collection tool.  The EFB will collect all the information you request of it and display it for you but you must first know what information you need and where to get it. 

I support the use of EFBs in the training and professional environment but not as a replacement for knowledge and understanding.  Pilots must ask themselves where the device is getting its information and does that information support their flight.  Here is a simple challenge I offer to applicants, pilot and instructors:

If I give you all of the reference material that is provided on your EFB but in hardcopy format, could you find what you need?  If you can’t, then you don’t have any business using your EFB.