Am I an idiot, or is this plotter incorrectly labeled?

[Jeff Meininger]

I ordered a "forever plotter" from Sporty's, and I can't figure the
thing out to save my life.

I took a scan of the plotter. Check it out.
Loading Image...

No matter how I orient the plotter, I cannot get the labels on the
radials to coincide with reality. The cardinal directions are okay,
but anything in between is wrong.

If I want to plot a course 10 degrees north (left) of due east, I
know my course should be 80 degrees. This plotter shows 100
degrees. Or, if I want to plot a course directly northeast, I know
my course should be 45 degrees. This plotter shows 135 degrees.

This thing can't be incorrectly labeled. They must have sold tons
of these things over the years. I just _have_ to be missing
something obvious. Can somebody hand me a clue?

Thanks!
-Jeff Meininger

[Jeff Meininger]

Post by Jeff Meininger
I ordered a "forever plotter" from Sporty's, and I can't figure the
thing out to save my life.

Okay, somebody just explained it to me on another forum.

You put the ruler edge of the plotter on your course line so that the
plotter itself is at an angle. Then, from the center hole, if you
draw an imaginary line straight up (due north), it will point at your
course in degrees.

Geez... I'm an idiot!!! :)

[Mark Hansen]

Post by Jeff Meininger

Post by Jeff Meininger
I ordered a "forever plotter" from Sporty's, and I can't figure the
thing out to save my life.

Okay, somebody just explained it to me on another forum.
You put the ruler edge of the plotter on your course line so that the
plotter itself is at an angle. Then, from the center hole, if you
draw an imaginary line straight up (due north), it will point at your
course in degrees.
Geez... I'm an idiot!!! :)

I just bought the Rotating plotter and Boy! how did I live without
this thing. You simply place the ruler along your course line, adjust
the rotating part so that 0 degrees points straight up, and read the
course right off the plotter - to the degree!

I got mine at my local FBO, but Sporty's has a similar one here:

<http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&did=19&product_id=6525#>

[Ron Natalie]

Post by Jeff Meininger
You put the ruler edge of the plotter on your course line so that the
plotter itself is at an angle. Then, from the center hole, if you
draw an imaginary line straight up (due north), it will point at your
course in degrees.

On sectional charts use the scale marked 1:500,000, on WAC charts used the
scale marked 1:1,000,000, on charts marked Not for Navigation use the scale
marked Not for Plotting.

[Malcolm Teas]

Post by Jeff Meininger

Post by Jeff Meininger
I ordered a "forever plotter" from Sporty's, and I can't figure the
thing out to save my life.

Okay, somebody just explained it to me on another forum.
You put the ruler edge of the plotter on your course line so that the
plotter itself is at an angle. Then, from the center hole, if you
draw an imaginary line straight up (due north), it will point at your
course in degrees.

You might want to use the longitude lines as the line from the center
hole to degrees. Less error in your flight planning that way than
"drawing an imaginary line straight up". The plotter's long enough
that you can always get it over a sectional's (or WAC's) longitude
line. You may have to flip it over though.

But, it is a nice skill to be able to eyeball it too. That way, when
your instructor asks for a diversion - or you have on for real - you
can set up a good approximate course quickly. And that you can refine
more accurately later on after the plane's setup correctly.

Post by Jeff Meininger
Geez... I'm an idiot!!! :)

Nah, you're a student. We all do this or something like it. Being
smart about this stuff is what you're supposed to be coming out of the
program, not going into it.

-Malcolm Teas

[Todd Pattist]

Post by Jeff Meininger
No matter how I orient the plotter, I cannot get the labels on the
radials to coincide with reality. The cardinal directions are okay,
but anything in between is wrong.
If I want to plot a course 10 degrees north (left) of due east, I
know my course should be 80 degrees.

If you knew you wanted to fly a course "10 degrees north
(left) of due east" you wouldn't need to read the angle on
the plotter - now would you? It's designed to be used
*after* you plot a line on a chart from departure to
destination airport. It then tells you the true course.

Draw your desired course line on the chart (say "10 degrees
north (left) of due east"). Put the top edge of the plotter
(where the mile marks are) on the course line. Slide the
plotter along the course line until the center-point of the
protractor is on one of those vertical (north-south) grid
lines. The top edge should still be along the course line.
*Now* you read the angle off the plotter. It will say 80 on
one scale and 260 on the other. You get to choose the right
one depending on which way you're going.


Todd Pattist
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)
___
Make a commitment to learn something from every flight.
Share what you learn.

[Jeff Meininger]

Post by Todd Pattist
Draw your desired course line on the chart (say "10 degrees
north (left) of due east"). Put the top edge of the plotter
(where the mile marks are) on the course line. Slide the
plotter along the course line until the center-point of the
protractor is on one of those vertical (north-south) grid
lines. The top edge should still be along the course line.
*Now* you read the angle off the plotter. It will say 80 on
one scale and 260 on the other. You get to choose the right
one depending on which way you're going.

Now I'm embarrassed because it seems so obvious! Ack!

I started out using a Cessna plotter. To use it, you always
orient the plotter horizontally, and then find your course
line on the radials. Later, I borrowed a different plotter.
It was the same shape as the Sporty's plotter (a long ruler
with a half-circle protractor part), but was used in a manner
similar to the Cessna plotter; you align that plotter
vertically and then find your course line on the radials of
the half-circle part.

I feel dumb because I don't usually have a problem with
spatial reasoning problems like this. I should have been
able to figure it out easily. I think my prior experience
with the other two plotters put my mind in a box, so to speak.

Thanks for the explanation. :)

[Todd Pattist]

Post by Jeff Meininger
Now I'm embarrassed because it seems so obvious! Ack!

I'd tell you to not be embarrassed, but I suspect it would
do no good. Instead, I'll tell you that the same thing
happened to me. It has something to do with the fact that
the stupid protractor is backwards and starts at 90 at the
top.

I would draw the course line, look at it and say "that 's
about 10 degrees north of the east-west line, so I'd know it
was around 80 degrees. Then I'd measure from the nearest
vertical or horizontal line to find out if it was really 13
degrees north of east,(or perhaps 77 degrees east of north
if I measured from a vertical line) so I'd subtract 13 from
90, get 77 and know my true course was 77 degrees. Of
course when I tried this with an aviation plotter, I had to
do this backwards starting from 90 :-)

I ended up using a standard protractor. Fit into my case
better too. I think it was long after I had my license that
someone showed me the "correct" way to use it. Now I pretty
much just slide a piece of paper over to t he VOR compass
rose and read off the magnetic course.

Post by Jeff Meininger
Thanks for the explanation. :)

Todd Pattist
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)
___
Make a commitment to learn something from every flight.
Share what you learn.

[Brooks Hagenow]

Post by Jeff Meininger
Now I'm embarrassed because it seems so obvious! Ack!
I started out using a Cessna plotter. To use it, you always
orient the plotter horizontally, and then find your course
line on the radials. Later, I borrowed a different plotter.
It was the same shape as the Sporty's plotter (a long ruler
with a half-circle protractor part), but was used in a manner
similar to the Cessna plotter; you align that plotter
vertically and then find your course line on the radials of
the half-circle part.
I feel dumb because I don't usually have a problem with
spatial reasoning problems like this. I should have been
able to figure it out easily. I think my prior experience
with the other two plotters put my mind in a box, so to speak.
Thanks for the explanation. :)

It might make you feel better knowing that others like myself were also
mystified by the "defective" plotter. I originally tried to use it the
same way you did and then did my own "translation" to what it "should"
read. (If it reads X what it really means is Y)

Although I might be a bigger idiot since I was also confused by the E6B
computer. I had trouble doing the wind correction angle calculation
because the airspeeds were way too high. The first time I used it I was
with my instructor and asked him if mine was maybe not meant for use
with the Cessna 152. My instructor says, "gimme" and I handed it to
him. He promptly removes the card portion from the dial portion, flips
it around and re-inserts it before handing it back to me. All I could
say was, "well, gee. Would you look at that?"

I am a computer programmer developing and maintaining miscellaneous
systems that handle millions of dollars worth of transactions, payroll
and costing and custom security applications, etc. and I can't figure
out a rather simple tool for VFR flight planning on my own. Sometimes I
scare myself.

-Brooks (idiot) Hagenow

[tony roberts]

Hmmmm.
Regret to say that it isn't answer 2 :)

Damn these multiple choice questions :)

Tony