Who Needs a GPS...

When you can navigate like a RAAF Pilot!

Roger Gration (left), CFI and owner of Inbound Aviation at Ballarat, Vic. has recently taken on a new Flying Instructor, Manny Peralta (right). Manny has introduced a new navigation training program that is based on a combination of RAAF visual navigation techniques, adapted to suit us Recreational Flyers. It is a compliment to those who have already gained their RAAus x/country endorsement and are looking to further their skills and abilities in navigation techniques. It gives a more proficient, accurate, and yet simpler way to navigate. When I say ‘proficient and accurate’ I mean dead accurate! But more on that in a moment…

 Firstly, a bit about the man…like most of us recreational pilots, Manny has a great love and passion for flying. He learnt to fly in 1982, gained his commercial licence through the RAAF Flying Club, taught by Air Force instructors, at Pt Cook, Vic. Manny has an envious background working in Aviation, as a ‘Logistics Officer’ in the RAAF, then moving onto the airlines as a ‘Flight Dispatcher’ for Ansett, before enjoying the challenges of working for a company that audits airlines for IATA…but Manny wasn’t to realise his true calling until he became a RAAus Instructor.

 Manny, who has a wife and 4 young boys, ranging in age from around 1 to 10 years old, told me that it is his aim to use all of his skills that he has gained over the years and to share it with other RAAus pilots; to help those who aspire to fly to achieve their dreams, to not only fly, but to be the best, most safe, and inspired pilots in the sky.

 I was in the fortunate position to be able to take up the challenge of undertaking this pilot navigator proficiency training program. To be honest, I was a little sceptical about the whole ‘RAAF visual navigation techniques’ and how that might be relevant for me as a GA/RAAus pilot…but I must say, I was more than impressed with the relativity of the program that Manny has put together to enhance the abilities of us pilots who already know how to navigate. Using the brand new classroom at Inbound Aviation, I was very impressed right from the start by the quality of the instruction from Manny, which certainly enhanced my learning experience.

Me in the classroom with Flight Instructor Manny Peralta:

Manny covered just about everything, from flight planning, navigation, map reading, calculations, right through to decision making. If you are anything like me, and have ever been confused by the whole 1 in 60 rule, Manny has a technique to make that so simple to calculate that you won’t believe it! Having now completed the course, I can honestly say that I have had my navigating confidence boosted, and in turn, I now have an increased level of enjoyment and certainly a more relaxed x/country flying experience. While pilot navigating in the past, I always needed to have the GPS turned on and I would watch it like a hawk while navigating using my maps, flight plan, etc…now, I don’t even need the GPS turned on! That’s how accurate and simple this navigation proficiency training is to implement. If I can do it, I figure it must be simple! When Manny took me on the practical part of the course, a 1 hour nav, we were achieving dead reckoning calculations to within seconds of ETA’s. It truly is amazing to be arriving overhead waypoints and arrival points dead on time and dead on track…talk about confidence boosting! But more than that, this is a safer, more predictable way to navigate around this amazing land of ours.

The course covers everything you need, and is run over 2 easy sessions. The 1^st session goes for around 3 hour’s duration and covers the flight planning and navigation side of things. The 2^nd session is the fun part…A dual nav flight, using Inbound Aviation’s immaculate J-160. I can honestly say, I learnt more than I had initially expected to on this course, picking up lots of little hints and tips that have most certainly improved my VFR navigation skills using the simple ‘toolbox’ of skills used by Air Force pilots today. Things like how to simplify the cockpit environment, reducing map reading and flight planning forms, etc, onto one simple to use format. I found that my eyes were outside the cockpit more than they have ever been while navigating (where they should be), instead of focusing so much time on the map, flight plan, and GPS. I am now enjoying flying more than ever before, with the added bonus of having a heightened sense of confidence while navigating.

The Hangar at Inbound Aviation Ballarat:

I believe that this is really exciting for us RAAus pilots - we now have a simple and fool proof way of navigating safely and proficiently using RAAF experience and techniques. It doesn’t complicate navigation; it actually simplifies everything that I have known when it comes to flying straight lines between point A and B, arriving with unbelievable accuracy - within seconds of my ETA! On my practical nav-flight session with Manny, we arrived overhead our 1^st waypoint at +3 seconds, and arrived at our 2^nd waypoint dead on time to the second! It kept going like that until we arrived back at Ballarat Airport at +3 seconds according to our stop watch. This is dead accurate navigation techniques; I was a little impressed to say the least!

 I learnt quite a few new tricks doing this course, and let me tell you, for an old dog that’s quite an amazing feat! If you are a RAAus or a GA pilot, I would highly recommend taking up the challenge of up skilling your navigation techniques, and learn to navigate like a RAAF pilot. The only disappointing thing about the course is that you don’t get to fly in an F/A-18, but, you do get to fly in one of the most immaculate and well cared for J-160’s I have ever seen!

I had such a great time, and gained so many new and simplified techniques to be able to use, I wanted to share this with fellow RAAus and GA pilots…my hope is that more recreational pilots will continue to increase their skills and abilities as pilots by undertaking regular additional flying courses such as this one. Whether it is this course or others, I strongly believe that we, as pilots, should always be seeking ongoing development, up-skilling, improve our flying/navigating skills, and our confidence. As Recreational pilots, our flying should always be in as safe a manner as possible, while having fun and enjoying what we love most of all – after all, that’s what Recreational Flying is all about…sharing the joys of flight with our friends and loved ones in an affordable, enjoyable, and above all, safe manner.