Steve in Idaho's latest activity

I am very sorry to hear this, Steve. I think of you as my western American twin out there and standing tall. I am glad to hear that you...

No, not every aircraft; only those with sufficiently robust levels of redundancy. The Gulfstream has four generators, each capable of...

I have and often use one of those, though it's not as nice as yours. That level of technology just means less to go wrong, and it lands...

Not having an electrical systems means that's one less thing to go wrong. I just fly low enough to see the town name on the nearest...

Do you consider the standby 'Whiskey Compass" as permanently unnecessary in every aircraft as well? If you should lose all electrical...

Triangles, French curves, circle stencils of various sizes, various sizes of compasses, dividers, angle gauges.....all still being used...

A wet compass is almost all I have as far as instruments go. I can't even see that when I have a passenger up front.

An old guide once told me to always carry 3 compasses. One as my own favorite primarry, a secondary in case something happens to the...

Well, while this pilot always carries not one, but two compasses on canoe trips, the FAA and aircraft manufactures actually do consider...

I'll see your obsolescence and raise you one... Like a fine mechanical watch, it's a pleasure to hold and use. In fact, Minerva used to...

But can you do it in semaphore?

At the time I was in scouts, (1960's) to advance from second to first class rank, a scout had to demonstate a minimm knowledge of a set...

Back in Boy Scouts I knew a few words. But now, all I can do is bang out SOS. In a pinch, I guess that's enough. (I hope)

I have (and love) all three- when drafting plans or reading blueprints on a site where there's no power or internet an engineer's scale...

Here’s one I still use, mostly for distances on irregular features (trails, rivers, etc). It is only obsolete if you’re into GPS...