Low-level navigation

The Green Route

I’m ever so slowly making progress towards attaining my own set of Wings. This afternoon I finished the low-level navigation phase of training. These flights teach us to navigate using natural (rivers, hills, lakes) and man-made (roads, towers, buildings) features while operating at low altitudes (like helicopters are supposed to). The first three flights aren’t so bad because they’re flown 500 feet above ground level. At this altitude you can see most of your checkpoints from miles off. The fun starts on the last two events, which are flown just 200 feet above ground level (that’s height above the ground…not height above the trees). You really can’t see much of anything (except the miles of forest you’re flying over) until you’re right on top of it. This is where dead reckoning (flying a heading and airspeed for a predetermined time, adjusted for current winds aloft) and a bit of luck come in handy. Sometimes my timing was right on…and sometimes it wasn’t! Then again, it doesn’t help when one of your checkpoints (each highlighted circle on the chart (“map”) above is a checkpoint) is a small pond surrounded by no less than fifteen other small ponds…

Anyway, I also knocked out the Night Vision Goggle (NVG) simulator event last week. It definitely takes a little getting used to flying around “on goggles.” As they say, “goggles don’t turn night into day,” but they do allow us to see much more than we could without them…thereby improving situational awareness and flight safety. Plus they’re cool! Of course, no piece of technology is perfect (the goggles are heavy, greatly reduce your field of vision, and cause eye strain if improperly adjusted), but I’m really looking forward to doing it in the plane this week or next. Last week I was also promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and passed the FAA Military Competency Exam for a Commercial Pilot Certificate with Airplane Single Engine Land, Rotorcraft-Helicopter, and Instrument-Helicopter ratings. That last part is a huge deal, and a great benefit of completing military flight training. Tomorrow I’ll be learning to takeoff and land aboard our training ship in East Bay. Everyone who has done this before says this is supposed to be a really cool flight and I can’t wait!