Kenny Keller (speaker) gives a short, practical tip about using the analog E6B flight computer for private pilot training. He stresses that examiners expect the standard, non‑electronic E6B on checkrides because it doesn’t need batteries or internet, and highlights the often‑forgotten front-side key (a small visual cue) as essential for performing most front-side calculations quickly under stress.
Kenny Keller
Everybody back again. We starting off here, shooting some of the tools of the trade, I guess you could call them some of the things that you're going to be using for your private pilot rating. And my daughter's in the background behind the camera making faces at me. So if I smirk, it's probably because my daughter's messing with me. So what I want to talk about here real quick is the E6B. This will be pretty short. I'm not going to dive into it big time. But you know, all the time the thing that guys always say, well, hey, I got this cool new electronic, blah, blah, blah, I got this on my smartphone. That stuff's all good. But when you go to take your checkride with the examiner, he's going to want you to have the E6B, the standard old E6B model here, because this doesn't take batteries. This isn't going to fail. It doesn't need the Internet. This thing is really, when you learn about it, is really an awesome little, awesome little tool. And the thing that I think is interesting is people, they, maybe they've never seen it and they need some instruction with it. But what's even more interesting is guys that have used them, they kind of forget and they get ready to go for the checkride. They did their planning a couple months ago and then they go, oh, yeah, I'll go over the E6B. I always have to make them do it. I always have to make them go over it. And the other thing is you ask somebody, hey, do you know how to use the E6B? Yep, I'm good with it. I know how to use it. And you go, okay, pull it out and show me. Figure how much fuel real quick to fly from point A to point B in this amount of time. And they pull it out and then they're here and they're going, they're turning the little dial and I can tell that they're struggling. And the biggest thing that I like pointing out for guys is do not forget that you have the key right down here for doing a lot of your problems. Shows you the right arrow, where to set it, where to read your time, your distance, inner scale, outer scale. The key is right there. So when you're using it, don't forget that's there. But especially when you're at your checkride and you're nervous and the examiner says, yeah, pull out the E6B and figure this. And you thought, oh, man, my instructor told me I wasn't going to need to do that. Well, if he does and you're freaking last minute, you're nervous. Everything at a checkride, you might know it really well the night before, and then the stress level comes in the day of the test and sometimes you just can't think. So the point is, do not forget that right down there is the key to doing most of your calculations on the front. So again, we'll probably touch some more on the E6B later. But this is just a little tip on using some of our tools. So as always, thanks for stopping in. We'll see you later. It.
