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Path: uunet!decwrl!pa.dec.com!emu.pa.dec.com!stevenp
From: stevenp@decwrl.pa.dec.com (Steven Philipson)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Re: Have I made aviation history?
Message-ID: <1990Nov30.033242.10490@pa.dec.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 90 19:32:42 PST
References: <1990Nov5.162132.23955@bellcore-2.bellcore.com>
Sender: news@pa.dec.com (News)
Reply-To: stevenp@decwrl.pa.dec.com (Steven Philipson)
Organization: DEC Palo Alto
Lines: 41

In article <1990Nov5.162132.23955@bellcore-2.bellcore.com>,
     venky@thelonious.bellcore.com (G A Venkatesh) writes;
 
> Am I the first person to get lost while in the pattern in VFR conditions?

  [story of drifting out of the pattern during first unsupervised solo and
      eventually finding home airport followed]
 
   No, you're not the first, you won't be the last, and you weren't the
most lost, either.  You kept your head and found your own way back.  Good
job!  Several years ago I encountered a student out of Van Nuys, CA who
had more trouble...

   It seems that the student was practicing in the pattern at Van Nuys
on a typical Los Angeles VFR day... visibility about 3 in smog and haze.
VNY can get quite busy.  The student followed traffic ahead until he
was several *miles* away from the airport on the downwind, and then
he lost sight of the other aircraft.  He also couldn't see the airport.

    I was on my way north at the time, just departing the Burbank TRSA
(this was a few years ago).  Burbank Approach canceled flight following,
so I tuned up my radio on 121.5 (international distress frequency).  I
immediately heard the student talking to another aircraft.  By now he was
well into the San Gabriel mountains north of Van Nuys and could not hear
or be heard by Van Nuys tower or Burbank approach.

    The other aircraft eventually lost contact with the student, so I
established communication with him.  He was pretty rattled and needed
lots of reassurance.  I ended up teaching him how to use his VOR receiver,
and got him turned around and headed back toward VNY (there's a VORTAC on
the field).  

    I learned two really important things from this.  One is that 
student pilots should be taught basic VOR navigation *before* they are
released for solo flights even if they're restricted to the traffic
pattern.  Second is that monitoring 121.5 can make a big difference,
even in densely populated areas.

						   Steve
					(the certified flying fanatic)
					    stevenp@decwrl.dec.com