Right Hand Seat – Technical advances

From the start of flying until recent times the basic method of VFR navigation has been the chart, watch and compass. The last 10 years or so has seen a revolution in both cockpit instrumentation and electronic navigation. In some areas the revolution has moved too fast for the users to fully comprehend.

It was only a few years ago that a pilot either had to personally submit his flight plane to the Flight Service office (FSO) or do an airmove priority reverse phone call to lodge the plan. The start of the electronic revolution came with the closure of the FSOs and the move to obtaining the weather and submitting the flight plan electronically.