Position

[Fitzwilliam]

When flying a GA and needing to give your position, how is this done and in relation to what? I am not talking about using the GPS or a plug in for this information, unless that is how a real GA pilot would do it :)

[Khirsah13]

Depends on who you're talking to and where you are. When talking to Flight Service or Flight Watch, you will always give your position in the form of a radial and distance from the nearest VOR.
"Flight Watch, Cessna 12345 is 15 miles from the Shelbyville VOR on the 115 radial."

When talking to a center or approach controller in the VFR environment, you'll give your position in relation to a navaid, an airport close to you, a VFR waypoint, or the approach controller's primary airport.
"Indy Center, Piper 12345 is 10 miles south of the Nabb VOR."
"Indy Approach, Skyhawk 22222 is 2 miles north of Greenwood."
"Cincinnati approach, Archer 4142F is over the Markland Dam."
"Dayton Approach, Arrow 2873L is 30 miles west of Dayton."

When dealing with a tower controller, you'll probably give a distance and direction from his or her airport.
"Columbus tower, Duchess 66340 is 10 miles north of Columbus."

When on a CTAF, you'll usually give your position as distance and direction from the airport or you'll use locally recognized landmarks.
"Greenwood traffic, Cessna 322ME is 7 miles south, inbound landing Greenwood."
"Metro traffic, Archer 332PA is over Geist reservoir, setting up for a midfield crosswind for 15 metro."

That's VFR. I'll let someone else handle position reports when IFR, cause I don't fully understand that system yet.

-Khir
Private ASEL
"When logic and proportion
have fallen sloppy dead,
and the White Knight is talking backwards,
and the Red Queen's 'Off with her head!'
Remember what the dormouse said:
'Feed your head. Feed your head.'"
-Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit
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[Fitzwilliam]

Thank you for the facts J

A couple of questions. I need some help with the actual mechanics of finding a position. I am assuming you are using VOR/DME to get your data? In each example above, what are the actual steps required to get the position?

Thank you!

[Heber98]

For the first example, if you are flying an airway or just tracking a VOR you should know what radial you are on.

If you're not tracking a radial you can just tune to a nearby VOR, set OBS or COURSE to center the needle with the FROM indication. That's your radial and your position on that radial is defined by the DME reading on that NAV radio.

The others are just situational awareness, always having a general idea of where you are in relation to other navaids and landmarks. This could involve a DME reading on a VOR with a basic reference to your position in relation to that VOR, as opposed to a specific radial.

Also, position callouts on CTAF around uncontrolled fields are used in the traffic pattern to inform other pilots in the area where you are in relation to the field, what leg you are entering the pattern, what leg of the pattern you are on, etc.

Tripp

[flyinggriffin]

First step if you are VFR is to look out the window find a nearby town or airport. You should know where you are at all times in relation to an airfield. You never know when you may need it. On the sectionals there are magenta (I believe its been a while since i looked at them) flags that denote VFR reporting points. These are known landmarks that you can use to tell the controller where you are. How do you judge distance? Lots of times its a guess based on experience. The person in front of the radar is more interested in your position in relation to the landmark than distance to the 1/2 mile. You also want to give your altitude. This not only lets the controller know that your mode C transponder is accurate, but helps other pilots in the area know if you are going to be a problem for them.

Ifr is a bit different. In a radar controlled enviroment taking off and landing at towered airports you really don't do more than identify your aircraft and state your altitude. When landing you give the type of approach you are on and runway. Your actual position is reported by radar and controllers pass it along down the line.
Non radar enviorment you have to give your call sign, position, altitude, time, next reporting point and when you are supposed to arrive. You might have to give airspeed also, but we don't run into this much in the east.