[The Bassman]

I thought I'd pass on a recent experience to my fellow students...

I was on a solo nav. My first leg had gone exactly to plan, but somehow managed to get into a bit of a mess on the second...

I was having trouble dialling in the DI and lo & behold, my waypoint didn't appear on the nose like it always had before. No problem I thought, can't be too far away, and carried on. Five minutes later & I'm starting to think "I'm not lost, but am I unsure of position"? After another 5 minutes, and having realised that the chart still didn't match the scenery, I decided to get a fix using the VORs as I'd done with my instructor.

Here's where it got twitchy - I couldn't dial in the VORs! Probably me being clumsy, but I couldn't get anything! Okay, I was now feeling the first stirrings of concern & decided to call up 121.5 to request a fix.

How glad am I that I did! - they soon had me identified, located & on a corrected heading. No problems, no fuss & absolutely no implication that I'd done anything silly. With hindsight, I should have probably called a Pan, but this omission certainly didn't put them off their stride (probably the "student pilot" identification helped)!

Moral of the story - don't be embarrassed to ask for help if needed! Far better to get sorted out quickly than blunder around or (and perhaps worse) allow panic to set in.

I'd also like to say "thanks" to anyone from London Centre who happens across this posting, you are appreciated!

[JonathanB]

Well done, a great result! I'll make sure that D&D see this (or I'm sure Moli will)

[leiafee]

Good move!

[seanxair]

Good post Bassman. Reassuring to know that you are never really on your own if there is a means of communicating.

[Iceman]

This happened to me as a student but substitute Farnborough Radar for London Centre. It's useful to be able to look back and analyse where it went wrong. In my case, I arrived at a railway line early, and even noted that I'd arrived there early but still turned on to my new heading regardless (thinking wind must not have been quite as forecast). A few minutes later, nothing correlated and I was certainly uncertain of position. Farnborough was initially unable to locate me by squawk, which was concerning, but then managed to identify me. They then stated that I was overhead 'X' which made me none the wiser but we resolved it in the end. I then decided to backtrack my route and on getting to the dubious turning point, immediately then saw why I'd got to the railway line early, yes you've guessed, it was the wrong railway line ! I learnt from that and I also gained a healthy respect for the navigation techniques taught during the PPL. They do actually work, something that we forget in this 'magenta line' driven modern world.

Iceman

[Cessna57]

I had an electrical failure on the 2nd leg of my QXC and got a bit lost whilst trying to sort it out.

Found my way back on course, but a strong headwind and a long leg led to me being totally overloaded about 10 miles from my second destination. (I'd modified my route on the fly, followed some large landmarks and then run out of landmarks and had to depart my large landmark and go look for the airfield, and I was a bit "tired" by then)

D&D not only found me instantly from my RT when I had no transponder (it had gone U/S), but they also directed me towards my destination, and phoned my destination so they were expecting me when I arrived. (I didn't know they'd done that till I landed!)

Very helpful and very relaxed when it was all getting a bit much for me. Really needed the "relaxed" bit at the time.

[GolfHotel]

........ They do actually work, something that we forget in this 'magenta line' driven modern world.

Iceman

Those old techniques really do work. And GPS can fail.

My GPS has never chosen the wrong railway. Come to think of it it has made far far fewer mistakes than me over the years. These days I find if I am temporarily unsure of my position that the GPS is pretty dam good at telling me were I am.

Well done to the OP for sorting it out and we'll done to D&D for the great help.

[Dave_Ett]

It's good to think of it as 'another tool in the box' and not a last resort or admission you can't cope.

Good on ya for thinking of it, and for posting.

[David Wood]

Well done for posting that and, more importantly, well done for making that call. In my book there are two things that no pilot should ever be criticised for: 1) asking for help if he's not sure of his position; 2) going around if he is in any way unhappy with his approach to land.

For those students who haven't ever called London Centre on 121.5 for a practice fix then my advice is to ask your instructor to show you how/let you do it on your next cross country trip. It is something that every pilot should be comfortable with and should have no hesitation in doing if push comes to shove. You will find the guys and gals in the D&D centre totally un-judgemental, very helpful and glad to be of assistance.

If it is a practice call, however, do listen out for a while before initiating the call to ensure that they are not dealing with a real emergency.

But well done OP.

[BirdsEyeView]

Yes I would agree. Doing a practice pan as part of training is educational. You find how helpful 121.5 is and how simple it can be to resolve a situation or location issue. Mine was almost conversational. As a result, I would not hesitate to initiate the call if I had exhausted all available data and location resources. Much better than flying into CAS M/ATZ or D & R areas.

[JonathanB]

I should have posted that I printed off the OP's post and handed it to the supervisor in D&D in person on Thursday afternoon.

[Colonel Panic]

In my book there are two things that no pilot should ever be criticised for: 1) asking for help if he's not sure of his position; 2) going around if he is in any way unhappy with his approach to land.

Agreed 100%.

I'll never forget my first away landing in a new (to me) aircraft type at Pembrey in 1999. I wasn't happy with the approach (a bit high and a bit fast) and, being a bit stressed declared "going around" only to be told off there and then in strong terms that "we don't do go arounds here". Not impressed and never went back.

[GolfHotel]

In my book there are two things that no pilot should ever be criticised for: 1) asking for help if he's not sure of his position; 2) going around if he is in any way unhappy with his approach to land.

Agreed 100%.

I'll never forget my first away landing in a new (to me) aircraft type at Pembrey in 1999. I wasn't happy with the approach (a bit high and a bit fast) and, being a bit stressed declared "going around" only to be told off there and then in strong terms that "we don't do go arounds here". Not impressed and never went back.

When I was learning another student told me he was never going to have to go around. One day he clearly did need to and left it far too late to go around. It scared him badly and he had to do a couple of circuits before being calm enough to land. We should always encourage a safety attitude.

[BirdsEyeView]

Agreed 100%.

I'll never forget my first away landing in a new (to me) aircraft type at Pembrey in 1999. I wasn't happy with the approach (a bit high and a bit fast) and, being a bit stressed declared "going around" only to be told off there and then in strong terms that "we don't do go arounds here". Not impressed and never went back.

Hell I would have had a strong word with the controller once on the ground:

"Unless you want to get your long ladders and jump in my seat to do it yourself, otherwise keep your nose out of my cockpit. I'll decide whether to go around, not you."

Just saying

[Cessna57]

I'll never forget the first time I didn't go around when I should have.

I taxied back gingerly, expecting a wheel to fall off after a discussion with my FI on whether I should.

CFI;

"You only made 1 mistake with that landing, only 1, do you know what it was?" ........

"You didn't go around"