Where exactly are we? (Asking for a friend)

Cockpit Briefing

On my very first flight, my instructor pointed out of the window and asked: “Describe what you see. Where are we?” I had no idea. Every cluster of rooftops looked the same. Today I can fly from A to B without GPS and actually know where I am. Here’s how that happened.

The Moment

On the ground, navigation is easy. You open your phone, type an address and follow the blue dot. In the airplane, at least during training, the blue dot stays off. It’s just you, a paper chart on your knee, a clock and the landscape passing by at more than three kilometres per minute.

My first navigation flights were… humbling. I would look at the map, then out of the window, then back at the map. By the time I found the village on the chart, we had already passed it. And more than once I was sure that lake down there was that lake. It wasn’t 😂.

But slowly, flight by flight, the landscape started to make sense. And then came the big one: the solo cross-country. A longer navigation flight alone, landing at other airfields along the way, which is required for the licence. Just me, the chart and the plan I had made the evening before.

The Lesson

Navigation in a small airplane is less magic than it sounds. It’s mostly good preparation and a few simple habits:

• Plan on the ground. Draw the route on the chart, measure the distance, and calculate the heading and time for each leg. And don’t forget the wind: it pushes the airplane sideways, so you have to point the nose a little into it to stay on track.
• Pick good checkpoints. Every ten minutes or so, I choose something easy to recognise: a lake, a motorway junction, a river bend, a big antenna. Single villages are bad checkpoints. There are simply too many of them. However, Villages with something like a castle or a church tower are better to recognize.
• Clock, map, ground. That’s the order. Look at the clock: “We should reach the lake in two minutes.” Look at the map: “The lake is long, with a town at its north end.” Then look outside and find it. Not the other way round. If you look at the ground first, your brain will happily find whatever you want to see.
• Use line features. Rivers, motorways, railways and valleys are like handrails. Follow one, and it’s much harder to get lost.
• Keep the map turned in the direction you fly. It sounds almost too simple, but it saves a lot of mental gymnastics. Left on the map is left outside.

And if you do get lost? Stay calm and keep flying the airplane first. Fly towards something big and obvious, like a large lake or a mountain range. In german this is called “Auffanglinie”. And don’t be afraid to ask for help: Flight Information on the radio can tell you where you are. Asking is not embarrassing. Staying lost is.

The Personal Part

As a glider pilot, I already knew my home area well from above. But gliders mostly stay close to home. Flying from one airfield to another, following a planned line, was new to me, and at first it felt like a lot at once.

What I love about it now: navigation made me really look at the landscape. I know the shape of the lakes, the path of the rivers, the way the Jura runs next to us. Switzerland from above has become a map I carry in my head. And I have to admit, the moment when the checkpoint appears exactly on time, exactly where I expected it… that’s a small, very satisfying win every single time.

And yes, of course I use GPS today as an extra help. But knowing I could find my way without it makes me a much calmer pilot.

One Takeaway

Don’t search for what you think you’ll see. Know what’s coming, and let the world confirm it. Clock, map, ground. It works in the air, and honestly, in a lot of other places too.