Pilot Navigation

Lauren has been working on her landings at Rockliffe and Gatineau airports. They have paved runways, fairly long, wide, and flat. For a change, I wanted to give her the chance to practise on a nice grass strip - CNR6 Carleton Place, about 10 miles South West of Carp.

First, we did a little navigation exercise to find the field. She flew West from Carp, at 1,200 ft above the ground. We overflew a small town and I passed her the map and asked her to identify the town. Her first guess was "Carleton Place", simply because she remembered where I said we would be going.

Dad: "How do you know this is Carleton Place?"

Lauren: "I don't know ... it has a road, and a railway, and a river ... ???"

Dad: "Check the map. Is Carleton Place on a river?"

Lauren: "No, it's near a lake on the map. So this is Almonte, it has a road, and a railway, and a river."

Dad: "It seems a little small to be Almonte. Does Almonte have a ski hill - do you see those ski trails and lifts over there?"

Lauren: "Umm. I Dunno."

Dad: "Do you see Mount Pakenham over there? With the ski trails?"

Lauren: "So this is Pakenham? Pakenham has a road, and a railway, and a river too?"

Dad: "Yeeeesss. Now where should we be heading to go to Carleton Place?"

Lauren: "I don't know. I thought you knew where it was."

And this is how pilots learn to navigate. My daughter inherited her map reading skills from her mother. I think I will show her how to program the GPS before she does her solo cross country trips.


This is Almonte - a nice little Ontario town with a road, and a railway, and a river too.