Why Airplanes Still Use Dead Reckoning

The ability to navigate using radio signals revolutionized aviation.  It allowed pilots to automatically and continuously find their location in conditions of little or no visibility, such as a cloudy night or a foggy day.  Airplanes were now an effective form of transportation in a much larger set of conditions, not to mention the military advantage of being able to fly in low-visibility situations.Join us on this episode of The Wing Wag as we go discuss how radio navigation works for a variety of different systems: RDF, Reverse RDF, ADF, VOR, DME, ILS, transponders, and LORAN.

Celestial navigation is one of the oldest forms of navigation dating back thousands of years.  It can be as simple as following the North Star or as complex as measuring the angular distances between stars and the moon to calculate what time it is.  Whatever form of celestial navigation you are doing, the idea is the same; use the known positions of the heavenly bodies at a particular time to calculate your location by observing the positions of same heavenly bodies in your local sky.Join Hunter and I this week as we navigate the past, present, and future of this surprisingly effective method of navigation.

Dead reckoning is one of the most basic forms of navigation; you simply move in a known direction and record how far you travel going in that direction.  Using your old location, you can now compute your new location.  You might be surprised to find out that some of the newest most technologically advanced aircraft still use this form of navigation.  Join us to find out why this ancient form of navigation is still used today in the presence of much more advanced forms of navigation such as GPS.

Most pilots are required to have a medical certificate.  This certificate helps to verify that a pilot is healthy enough to safely pilot an airplane.  While the medical certificate requirement is a very important part of aviation, it can cause pilots a lot of stress; there are a variety of medical certificates to choose from and each has its own privileges and restrictions.  Not to mention that a failed medical examination can spell the end of your aviation career.Join us on this episode of The Wing Wag as we discuss the intricacies of each type of medical certificate, decide which is best for you, and give you tips for avoiding failing a medical examination.

So you've decided to become a pilot.  Choosing a flight school can be overwhelming.  Every flight school has its own personality and style of teaching.  You want to find the flight school that's the perfect fit for you.  Join me this week as we go over what to look for (and avoid!) when picking a flight school.

Happy New Years!Pilots are almost trying to improve their skill.  Here at The Wing Wag, we are no different.  Join me this week to discuss some of the ways in which I want to improve as an aviator, an airplane owner, and a podcaster in 2026.  Let's just hope that these resolutions last longer than my resolution to stop eating candy...If you have any aviation-related goals for 2026, I'd love to hear about them!  Let me know in the comments.If you are interested in flight training or just want to fly with an instructor, check out Olinde Aerospace: https://olindeaerospace.com/

Santa apologists, sometimes called full-flighters, have long held the belief that Santa himself delivers all the Christmas presents during a single flight around the entire world.  My brother Matthew and I set out to prove that this is not possible for a variety of reasons such as the distance of the trip, the number of stops, and the fuel requirements.  As we got further into our research, we began to see that maybe the Santa apologists were right after all.Sources supporting the full-flighter argument:https://www.noradsanta.org/en/maphttps://www.altogetherchristmas.com/music/ISawMommyKissingSantaClaus.htmlhttps://www.altogetherchristmas.com/music/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer.htmlhttps://www.adirondack.net/holiday/top-songs/grandma-got-run-over/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas

In this episode, I'm going to answer 5 questions that non-pilots always ask me:1. What is causing all of the plane crashes recently?2. What do you do if your engine dies in flight?3. Is turbulence really dangerous?4. How much money and time does a pilots license really cost?5. Do I seriously start my plane with my hands?Aviation crash statistics: https://www.panish.law/aviation_accident_statistics.html

At first, the vast majority of general aviation aircraft were tailwheels.  This all changed in the 1950s when tricycle gear (nosewheel) aircraft became the standard for general aviation.  Now virtually all trainers have a tricycle gear.My brother Matthew, a CFI specializing in tailwheel training, joins us this week to discuss why this shift occurred and why there is still a benefit to learning to fly in a tailwheel airplane.

Trijets, airplanes with 3 jet engines, went from the majority of jet airliners in the 1980s to basically nonexistent today.  What caused their initial popularity and their drastic decline?  Join us on this week's episode of The Wing Wag as we answer these questions!