You can't accuse me of not being prepared for my first dual cross country. I had everything except the kitchen sink (that would have thrown off the weight and balance!).
I bought a tri-fold knee board back in 2000 but never used it. Thought I would check it out this week. To be honest, it was ditched during the taxi out. Everything just felt cluttered. I couldn't get full deflection on the control yoke. There was sufficient space for my E6B, pencil, student certificate and my flight plan. But that's it.
I found it easier to place the E6B in the side pocket near the primer. I then used a white A4 size clipboard with my nav log on one side and the appropriate sectional on the other side held on with a large paper clip. The airport taxi diagrams slotted in nicely behind the nav log. My pencil remained in my top pocket and the plotter slotted nicely underneath the sectional. I ended up using two maps for the flight. One was the Phoenix Terminal chart (for the departure) and the other was the Phoenix Sectional (covering airspace down to Tucson). The one not in use was placed n the back seat where I could easily reach when needed. A side note, having the sectionals folded correctly back on the ground at the flying school was important to help keep the time off the controls to a minimum during the flight.
Maybe, it's because I am tall, but I just can't see the tri-fold working out for me. I'm going to stick with the clip board for the next couple of flights. The tri-fold needs to try harder!
Compare the two pictures. I think I have well and truly spring cleaned my navigation tools.
I found it easier to place the E6B in the side pocket near the primer. I then used a white A4 size clipboard with my nav log on one side and the appropriate sectional on the other side held on with a large paper clip. The airport taxi diagrams slotted in nicely behind the nav log. My pencil remained in my top pocket and the plotter slotted nicely underneath the sectional. I ended up using two maps for the flight. One was the Phoenix Terminal chart (for the departure) and the other was the Phoenix Sectional (covering airspace down to Tucson). The one not in use was placed n the back seat where I could easily reach when needed. A side note, having the sectionals folded correctly back on the ground at the flying school was important to help keep the time off the controls to a minimum during the flight.
Maybe, it's because I am tall, but I just can't see the tri-fold working out for me. I'm going to stick with the clip board for the next couple of flights. The tri-fold needs to try harder!
Compare the two pictures. I think I have well and truly spring cleaned my navigation tools.
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