E6b Flight Computer, Wind Side
Many people have troubles with this section of Navigation. Follow the steps, and you will soon understand the use of the flight computer. If you already have experience, and don't need this tutorial, go ahead to the practice questions.
The E6B Flight Computer, wind side. Make sure that the inner sliding board is in the right way. Compare yours to the one at the left.
Parts of the E6B:
Black arrow: True index, points to the direction (wind or flying) in degrees true.
Grommet: In the very centre of the flight computer. The grommet is used to line up measurements for precise calculations.
Horizontal lines: Represent speed, they are labeled along the vertical centre line. Usually each thick line is equal to 10, and each thin line equal to 2. Check yours to make sure.
Vertical lines: Radiate out from the bottom centre of the back board. They are used to figure out "drift".
Inner wheel: The inner wheel is the part that moves. It is marked in degrees, and we use it to mark the direction of the wind and the intended path of the airplane.
Question #1 will walk you thrugh the process of finding the direction that an airplane should fly, when the wind will be pushing it off course, and the speed that the airplane will travel over the ground.
1. Wind Side
A Skylark Deluxe is to proceed from Niagara Falls to Toronto Airport. The intended track is 332 degrees; (true). The true airspeed of the airplane is 85 knots. The wind is from 280 degrees (true) at 25 knots. What is the heading to steer and what is the groundspeed? (this example is the one from the text book "From The Ground Up")
Step #1:Find the important information. The type of airplane and the airport names are not important. Fill in the following blanks:
wind direction: ______ wind speed: _______
intended track: _____true airspeed of the a/c: ______
Step #2:Turn the inner ring of the wind side so that the arrow of the outer ring points at the wind direction (280 degrees).
Step #3:Using a pencil (pen will ruin the E6B), draw a line to represent the wind strength (25 knots). To do this, line up the grommet (small circle in the window centre) with the line where "100" is marked. Draw an arrow, straight up from "100" up to where "125" is. The line is then 25 knots long. Be careful to be exact.
Step #4:Turn the inner ring so the arrow now points at the intended track (332 degrees ).
Step #5: Slide the whole compass rose piece so that the arrow that you drew points at the slide rule line that represents the true airspeed of the airplane (85 knots).
Step #6: Read the groundspeed from under the grommet : ________. Find the wind correction angle. That is the vertical line that the arrow points at:______. Is it left or right of the centre? _______. The wind correction angle is how much your airplane will get blown to the side (off course) by the wind.
Step #7:If the wind correction angle is left of centre (east) subtract it from the intended track. If it is right of centre (west) add it to the intended track.
Final answer: groundspeed: __________
heading to steer: __________
