Should we Still Teach Old Tech???

[rwanttaja]

You kids with your fancy-dan E6Bs.

Almost exactly 50 years ago, I joined Civil Air Patrol as a 13-year-old cadet. Aviation crazy then, aviation crazy now. Things don't change much, I guess ('cept my weight is about three times higher).

Progression through the ranks was difficult. You worked your way up the enlisted ranks until you were ready to take the tests for cadet officer. There were six textbooks that covered particular aviation and military subjects. Getting a stripe required passing formal, written test on each book. Each weekly CAP meeting included a class on one of the books. The classes would go for several months, then the tests would be requested from CAP national. The test sheets would arrive, those ready would take the exam, and the test sheets would be sent back to national for grading. It took four to six months to complete the requirement for just one stripe. None of it was at your own speed; you were dependent upon the squadron holding the proper classes and ordering the tests when everyone was ready.

About eighteen months after I'd joined, I'd worked my way up to two stripes, and was rather frustrated at the slowness. Then I found out CAP had a loophole. If you passed the Private Pilot written test, you'd get full credit for completing the four books of the sequence that dealt directly with aviation. So I decided to take that route. I grabbed "The Private Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge" and started studying.

The navigation part was the hardest. I was just 14; I couldn't afford one of those slick flight computers. The time/distance math was easy enough...but how could I do the wind triangles?

One of the adults took pity on me, and showed me how to solve them by hand, using a chart, protractor, and ruler. I'd draw a line on the map in the desired direction of flight, and mark off the scale airspeed along the vector. I'd then draw another vector at the airspeed point for the direction and speed of the wind. The length of the third leg of the triangle would give the ground speed, and the required heading offset would be the measured difference between the two lines.*


A few days after my 15th birthday, I went to the FAA office to take the Private written. I got a lot of weird looks...I was years younger than everyone else, and was working awkwardly with a protractor, yardstick, and a big sheet of paper.

Got the results a month later (addressed to "Ron ad" Wanttaja...which became my handle for a while): I'd gotten a 70%, the lowest passing grade.

Took the FAA letter into the next CAP meeting. They were surprised...but agreed that I had met the requirements. Cadet Airman Wanttaja became Cadet Master Sergeant Wanttaja.

My squadron nemesis quit that week. I'd jumped him by two stripes.

Here's a picture of me from roughly that period. I'm the one standing on the left.

There was a bit of fall-out. As I said, I took the test just a few days after my 15th birthday (which was on the 20th of the month). However, the test results were valid for only two years. I started lessons when was 16, and had only a 10-day window between my 17th birthday and the date my written would expire.

And, of course, I was unable to get the flight test in during that time. So my written expired, and I re-took it about a month later. This time, I had an E6B.....

Now, there's ABSOLUTELY NO QUESTION that my manual wind triangles gave me a better understanding of them than those flipping their Flight Computers so adroitly. But I don't think it should necessarily be a skill folks need to retain....

Ron Wanttaja

* When writing this, I tried to re-create a manual wind triangle. Couldn't do it...had to research it online.