DIVERSIONS! change destination airport in-flight and flight planning while you are in the airplane.

[@captmulch1]

In flight school I was taught to visually determine the approximate heading and start the diversion immediately, use your fingers to determine distance (my fingers are 10nm wide on a WAC chart), and work out a rough estimate. Once established on the rough diversion track then work out a more detailed plan - this can save time / fuel if the diversion is critical (big thunderstorm ahead etc.)

[@midlifeflyer]

Most real world diversions are not elk on the runway. They are things which require action, not simply hanging out where you are. Weather (every real diversion I have had in 30+ years has been due to weather). Equipment problems (oil pressure dropping and temperature rising). Equipment and weather are the two scenarios I use for training. For those who like mnemonics, it's the "Four Fs." Find it. Figure it. Fly it. Fine tune it. (There's a fifth F we won't mention. It's what you exclaim about the reason for the diversion!'

[@darrylday30]

I was taught to keep it short too.

[@asiasmells71]

Omg this brings back memories... For the GPS newbies if you think all these calculations are crazy... Try it with the stress of a check ride and buy the way .. they didn't wait to get to an airport to say we are diverting they say after they successfully got you lost we hit weather need to divert so out comes the old school map and find your location then calculate if have fuel to get to new location with maps and those spinny tool things hahaha

[@Ichibuns]

I got my license 2 years ago. GPS was never allowed. Are people actually allowed to use GPS for their private?

[@captmulch1]

We used to always call the spinny things a 'Prayer Wheel' - spin it and pray. Jokes aside, they are fantastic for fast calculations, they start every time, don't run out of battery, and rarely break when dropped ...

[@lvsqcsl]

I don't think this is for me. I got lost recently and had to land in a random field. I had no idea where I was. Great video!

[@renemedinajr4218]

Wow. I can't believe I understand this and at least have an idea. I used to look at this stuff and my brain would flip! I do my training in Stockton airport and I'll hopefully be done with my ppl this year! I can't wait to see and meet you in the skies soon!! Your videos have helped me so much 😁

[@PilotSteak]

We had So much fun with this on our trip to Oshkosh 2021! For us, the Diversion wasn't to shorten the flight... it was to Extend the flight because we had the extra fuel.. AND an Awesome Tailwind.

[@MichaelLloyd]

When I was getting back in the saddle my instructor had me do about 30m of rudder / throttle only and we even did an approach that way. Not all the way to the ground but pretty close. That was an extremely valuable experience. It's good to see that instructors still teach the "paper" method. That's all I had back in the 80's

[@SoloRenegade]

I had no GPS in the 2010s. All steam gauges, E6B, and paper charts and procedures. GPS, autopilot, and other things are a crutch, and they can also fail spectacularly (and I've experienced it multiple times). Always good to have the older methods ready as a backup. I have always taught my students rudder/throttle-only flying on the very first lesson with them. Whether student pilots, flight review, IFR, Commercial, etc. If I've never flown with them before, I always start the first lesson with rudder/throttle only. It has multiple valuable reasons, such as preventing PIT, teaching how stable most planes are, giving greater understanding of aerodynamics through demonstration, providing options in case of emergency (control failures do happen), etc. I also do it with discovery flights and airplane rides, to calm the fears of the passenger by showing how stable and easy it is.

[@captmyq]

I foot flew the aircraft during my first diversion training while plotting new route and after landing my instructor said I was lucky that the aircraft didn’t bank/roll while I was hands-off and I said it was under control as I was controlling the roll with opposite rudder movement. He got so angry then but thanks Jason for proving me right!

[@SoloRenegade]

I teach all my students rudder-only flying the airplane from flight lesson number 1, as it helps teach them about stability and prevents Pilot Induced Turbulence going forward (I've never had a student get into PIT because of this).

[@Dfendr96]

Wow, I have 147 hours of flying time over 23 years and in that time I can share that your demonstration locks in a solid appreciation for all that Foreflight has given us in aviation achievement. Thank you Jason and thank you Foreflight but most of all thank you to all that make strides in taking aviation to the next level!

[@reubenmorison8149]

I've seen a real case, where a student had to divert due to fog, they took 20-30 minutes to plan their diversion overhead, then realised they didn't have enough fuel after all their holding to get to the alternate. They almost wrote the aircraft off landing on a rocky beach. Here in NZ, we are taught to track immediately in the rough direction of the alternate, then calculate while holding that rough track.

[@usmcmech96]

That's what I teach too. XYZ airport is about 030 from here, so now we are making progress toward our alternate while we do the rest of the paperwork.

[@richnash82]

I agree. I was taught to draw a line on the chart from my location to the diversion and estimate the heading, turn immediately and then adjust the heading if needed once you start passing waypoints. The timing can be worked out on the way.

[@JoshuaTootell]

I feel like this is common sense.

[@Aleksandar6ix]

My last flight before covid involved a small diversion due to an airport closure! I think that was my first real world diversion ever, and foreflight made it easy.

[@LetsGoAviate]

Also for those who have been flying for a longer time, these are great reminders, thanks. I always have it in the back of my mind that my GPS can fail. Even if I have two or sometimes three GPS's onboard, I always have the appropriate paper map (and nav planning tools) with me. Something maybe to add to this is the fact that the chance of having to do in-depth diversion planning in-flight can be significantly reduced by always having an alternate airfield/airport in mind before you commence the flight. This way you already know how far your alternate is from your destination, which direction you should fly in, how long it will take and how much fuel you'll need. But with that said, it is still good to be able to plan a diversion in flight. BIG TIP for students (that has been proven time and time again): The more preparation you do before a flight (alternates, frequencies, landmarks, reporting points, runway numbers etc.), the less overwhelmed you will be in flight when things don't go as planned.

[@lancomedic]

I'm going to have to watch this about 6 more times because once you started throwing those numbers out I got glassy eyed.

[@SVSky]

I wrote a short flow chart on my chart to remind myself of the process and not skip steps in the cockpit. Examiner threw me a curveball and asked me "why don't you just look at the ground speed on the G5?" Doh! Rudder trick is great too!

[@Rodhern]

"There is a herd of elk". Such an underutilized excuse. Made me smile.

[@TheFinerPoints]

😂🤣well maybe 🤷‍♂️

[@GZA036]

Quickly determine magnetic course: 1. place a straight edge along the course from your position to the target 2. transpose the straight edge to the nearest compass rose around some VOR 3. read off the magnetic course from compass rose For estimating groundspeed: -add a direct tailwind to TAS. -subtract direct headwind. -quartering wind, add/subtract 1/2. -crosswind, subtract 1/4. Pull out the E6B, solve for time/fuel: -how fast? (align rate with 60) -time is always on the inside Also useful to have some rules of thumb for measuring distance. I know that two finger widths is 10nm on my sectional and 4 fingers = 20nm.

[@darrylday30]

Great “rule of thumb” for ground speed!

[@cruizerdan71]

Love it J…. 8 years watching and still loving what you provide. Thanks for all you do brother.

[@worldaviationnetwork]

Thanks for your in-depth knowledge. Keep up the good work!!

[@BrianSiskind]

I just did this for the first time last week and I feel better seeing it's not just me who had altitude running away and oscillating corrections. Super helpful rudder idea thanks man! Relatable and helpful as always.

[@md4droid]

Jason is one of my favorite to watch for this reason. He shows how to do things in real situations.,

[@joffotron]

Out here in Australia, we're taught 100% paper still, so this has been a super useful (and timely!) video for me

[@TheFinerPoints]

Awesome! Glad to hear it

[@HamBown]

Same here in Canada. No nav aids or GPS are allowed for cross country training or the check ride, at least for my PPL program. Going out to practice diversions tomorrow, ahead of my first solo cross country flight.

[@plane15man]

1) charts out and orient yourself, 2) find a suitable airport and point yourself towards it, 3) "eh, that looks like 3 lat/long lines away so about 30 miles", 4) at 120 knots that's 15 minutes, 5) 10 gal/hr for 15 minutes is 2.5 gallons, 6) we got 20 gallons left, we'll be alright.

[@Meowzy5mlg]

Dude make it look easy. 10/10. Definitely will try food trick.

[@LTVoyager]

This technique is even more important when you get your instrument rating and need to accept and plan a new clearance and don’t have an A/P. The only thing I would add is that it is fair game to use a passenger, and the DPE is a passenger on the check ride, to assist you with simple tasks such as hold a chart, plotter or pencil as you are plotting and calculating.

[@vegasaviation2243]

Your channel is an extremely helpful tool for my flight training. I’m trying to gather as much information as I possibly can and I learn so many new things from you. I really appreciate your awesome channel.

[@flywithandee]

Such sound advice. Well done!!

[@KevinW8BRY]

Thanks Jason, this lesson is of great value to us Student Pilots. Love content like this. Enjoy Oskosh.

[@TheFinerPoints]

Thanks! 🙌

[@mikeperry2814]

Yes it is! Thanks!

[@md4droid]

Awesome explanation, Jason. This will definitely help me when I get ready for my checkride. :) Thanks for the great video, as always.

[@chrisure5393]

Great, soon as we get out of lockdown, I am practising this. If I still know how to fly after so long.

[@mountainmikeoutdoors]

Remember this too: If your aircraft measures speed in MPH, you need to use the statute miles side of the plotter. I go back and forth between aircraft that measure Knots and MPH. The black electrical tape trick need-not apply. Make a personal flow when using paper charts, similar to a CGUMPSS or GUMPS checklist, that ensures you're using all of the correct measurements.

[@dannyCOTW]

I find it easier to convert the mph to kts first and then everything is in kts. (wind too)

[@user-vn1xb1dh2p]

Wow that's new to me. I'm going to get my PPL in Canada now and the process of diversion is completely different. So here in the Flight Test Guide it is stated that we cannot use any aid other than a pencil to help us. So no ruler no protractor or such thing. We can only estimate the distance by finger/minute of latitude and the heading by basically guessing. Also we kind of abandoned the habit of circling above a known point. We are now instructed to fly directly to the new destination so we don't really have much time to plan.

[@marklee1462]

You have to ask what is reasonable. IRL

[@mountainmikeoutdoors]

I mean, I carry 2 iPads, 2 chargers, an E6B, plotter, Several VFR sectionals, several IFR Low charts, and a paper chart supplement with me in the airplane. I think Jason's method here is more reasonable than minute/second estimation. Imagine trying to count minutes and seconds not in perfect increments of 30 in turbulence.

[@jeffhiner]

I think the Canadian regulators have it right here. Flying straight and level on a general heading is a lot less mental load than circling over a point (and less likely to put a stressed pilot in a graveyard spiral), and by first pointing the aircraft in the direction of your new destination even if by off a few degrees you're not wasting fuel. If you're diverting IFR you're probably already in hard IMC and fuel remaining is a primary concern! The "just a pencil" rule might be to keep folks from overthinking it. Fly the plane. I agree this is a technique that's useful for practicing reasonable distractions in flight. But in real life if the distance is 12 NM you'd have gotten to your destination by the time you finish all the fuel and time and WCA calculations while circling. A 3 degree error for wind would put you well within a mile from your destination. Far better use of your time to spend those 7 minutes briefing field elevation, frequencies, runways and approaches, getting the weather, etc.

[@peacesalamonlyone]

I use my fingers to measure distance and time and fuel. So I take a 5 NM distance and find out how long that is. For example, a C172, three fingers wide = 5NM, 3 min and 0.5 gallons. Heading is eyeball measured using long and lat lines. Cut in two, it is 45 degrees, then 22 degrees etc. This will give you a very good approximation. You will spend 20 secs max inside your cockpit. Why does it work? Because speeds and distances are very small on piston airplanes. And because of a good preflight planning and also if you made clear indications on your map.

[@keanumcgill]

Extremely well said. Thank you!

[@Calgold49]

Great video did my first diversion and that rudder tip was great!

[@ledoaihuy]

Great video. Thank you

[@abbieamavi]

I used to take 3 weeks to flight plan, now I do it in 30 seconds…the improvement from private to commercial. 😂 Thanks Jason!

[@kendra2310]

you can always use a compass rose to find your magnetic heading. all nav maps should have one. that way you can skip the true to magnetic conversion and just correct for crosswind

[@SorenHume]

Brought me back to my PPL checkride in 1998

[@nrice3623]

Great video!

[@christianramirez3599]

Great video as always !..thanks

[@TheFinerPoints]

🙌

[@SamJoiner-o4q]

Badass video!! You da man!

[@piper0428]

How about planning for diversion before you depart. Plot airports parallel to your course. You get good estimates on calculations before you depart. Plan for possible airport closer and have as many alternates to give you choices.

[@Rod.Machado]

Yeah i do this, and just put the extra nav logs in my back pack, so i just need to calculate the fuel part.

[@gufranv]

And doing this over my home airport 😊 nice video!

[@mianatwood]

Lol watching this KZbin vid casually to do my training tomorrow and you say let’s say we are going to Tracy airport!!! Lol that’s the airport I’m supposed to go to 🤣🤣

[@gordonfeliciano4315]

Old school dead reckoning... nice! Fly safe and fly often... oh, and have fun at AirVenture 2021!

[@ibgarrett]

Ugh - The manual E6B is my nemesis and probably going to be the single most difficult thing for me to master for the CFI…

[@birds_eye_view]

And now try it in really bumpy weather and open cockpit… it will be even hard to get the new course into a Foreflight or SkyDemon … and remember: If everything else fails, get help from ATC before you run out of gas! Also if you have marginal VMC, the biggest risk might be going IMC when not looking.

[@davidm8097]

Thanks Jason, but in my opinion, assuming this is a VFR diversion, it's much quicker and safer to roughly calculate the heading and distance using best guess and a crude measuring device (e.g. if 1 finger width = 5nm, and index to thumb tip spread = 50nm etc.). Drastically reduces the time spent looking down in the cockpit (less time looking for hazards and can induce illusions), much less of a distraction generally and reduction in mental energy required, less likely to make mistakes because you're not relying on tools where a single input error could significantly change the output, and importantly because a student pilot is very unlikely to be able to actually fly the increased accuracy that those tools provide. There's no point me worrying about a couple of degrees here or there in the calcs if my best flying accuracy is not less than 5 degrees for example. All alternative viewpoints welcome....

[@davidm8097]

I should add, this being VFR, visual features along the way will help correct course deviation. Not sure I understand why such accuracy is required in-flight.

[@Rodhern]

@@davidm8097 I think I see both your point and Jason's and I even think I agree with both. I think Jason shows us the 'full procedure' here, which might be useful in marginal (or worse) weather without good RNAV equipment. I think all three of us believe scaling down the procedure to fit the purpose/situation is sensible. I think your point is that it must be exceptionally rare that we genuinely need the 'full procedure' in practice. Maybe unlikely to the point that it is not worth training (in the sense that the unabbreviated procedure won't ever be needed). To me the trick of leaving the wind mark on the E6B sounds clever. Sure skip that step most in most situations. Except if those 25kts winds were those that got you off track in the first place (a little different from a diversion but much the same principles), then do glance at the expected cross wind course correction.

[@glennwatson]

I tend to score the side of a pencil with the units when I'm flying to make measurements relatively easy myself rather than using a thumb.

[@marklee1462]

@@davidm8097 flying over featureless terrain ...

[@SoloRenegade]

@@marklee1462 I've flown all over the US, and I've never been a place that was truly featureless. But some places can be difficult with regards to correlating something on your chart to what you see outside. But, there are tricks you can use when flying, before/after a diversion or getting lost, to help you find your way. Things like, "If I get lost I know freeway XX is always to my East on this flight, so if I get truly lost I can start flying east until I cross the freeway and then follow it north or south until I find a town/feature I can recognize.".

[@darrylday30]

Great tip on rudder use! Does the flight test in the US require all of these calculations to be done prior to departure on the diversion? In Canada we just jot down the time and head out. Calculations on route.

[@reyesben]

So valuable

[@TheFinerPoints]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@saltygator]

Hi Jason, Finished the TFP Ground School, killed the written, Thank You! Passed my checkride and now I'm ready for Instruments. Are you going to do an Instrument Ground School? I wish the ground school app had a place for feedback or comments (only complaint, lol).

[@flightbug2902]

There are plenty of CFII MEI ATP CTP naval aviator top gun hot shots that don't know the aerodynamics of 'top rudder' and the potentially life saving applications it has.

[@MisterTechnologic]

Circling like this would have had me fail my diversion. I was always taught to get a rough heading and immediately start heading there, then do the rest of the work.

[@TheFinerPoints]

This is one of those preferences that I believe is fair to discuss with the DPE before the check ride.

[@frednorthup1657]

We are taught from the beginning of flying to stay Coordinated . Where is the line of how far you can go out of Coordination to steer with your feet?

[@alk672]

When I think about the best possible way for a student pilot or a low-time pilot to kill himself in an airplane... Do exactly this. Start messing with a paper chart and an E6B while flying. It's still pretty hard, but this gives you the best chances.

[@edb7742]

For an actual check ride, is the student allowed to use Foreflight on an iPad to perform a diversion?

[@williamstrobel5546]

Nice ending😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@ryanawilson8549]

Your reason for diversion sounds positively apocalyptic 😆

[@Parr4theCourse]

Nice tips!!!

[@paulcrooks9573]

2/3 the distance or 2/3 (12)=8 min Use this formula

[@enigma6482]

I think I'd rather buy 2 tablets; one as primary and one as a backup, just to not have to do all that during flight.

[@ryanawilson8549]

Makes sense on video. I'm sure IRL can be a different story.

[@lukeorlando4814]

I don’t quite understand why you would need to calculate the fuel. Would you not know before you left the ground how how long your fuel is going to last in the air. And I ask the question even more considering this video was 11 minutes long and your destination is 7 minutes away. You did not seem to calculate the fuel burnt while circling and arguably you were circling longer than your redirection will take.

[@daves5765]

Not a good idea in larger aircraft full of passengers or ones with flight attendants doing a beverage service. Using your feet to control bank works well in "toy" airplanes though. I would NOT lock this technique down as a foundational building block early in your career especially if your plan is to fly bigger equipment down the road... my professional opinion based on experience. This will be something you will need to unlearn later on in your career similar to the very annoying "pitch for airspeed" philosophy I have seen in new-hires demonstrated on landing/approach. This was another problem I had to "untrain" in pilots when they were transitioning to larger/ commercial aircraft. Rudder should be used to remain in coordinated flight (not to control bank angle) and pitch should be used to maintain glide path. Power should be used to maintain target speed/desired AOA only.

[@turninmonyin2noise978]

If you have to get out all the paper plotter pencil and E6B to do a diversion and you have Flight Attendants in the back I am really confused about Airline aviation. I also would think by now you would have passed the practical tests that the DPE would be doing for the students I believe Jason has created this video for. Also I have found that the Stabilized Approach is great for bigger iron but it sure doesn't work in a lot of small back country fields. Certain methods and tricks of the trade work in some places very well but not at all in other places. I was chewed out by a young CFI/airline for slipping on final as that is a completely in appropriate maneuver. the The old timer CFI pointed out that it is a very appropriate tool, especially for older planes without flaps like a cub or champ. Also remember the Gimli glider was a commercial airliner that was slipped to a life saving landing. Confusing students in GA with Pros flying big Iron might not be a good Idea IMHO.