The E6-B Quick Start Guide
Here are the quick-start E6-B Flight Computer instructions. The first section is an easy-access summary for those who have been through the basics or have used it in the past. If the E6-B is new to you, Click Here to learn some basics on how to use it during flight and flight planning. And here is the complete E6-B Instruction Manual which describes all of the E6-B features and calculations. E6-B Summary
Instructions for those new to the E6-B. The instructions in this guide are limited to calculating True Air Speed, TAS; Fuel Consumption; Times and Distances; Wind Correction Angles, WCA; and Ground Speeds. We recommend that you print this Quick Start Guide for ease of use. However, it is also accessable from the Kneeboard. Open the Kneeboard, and then click on the text tab in the lower right border of the kneeboard. That will bring up the DOUGLAS DC-3 Reference Information document. Next, click the Quick Start Guide link near the top of that page. Drag the kneeboard to the left for better viewing. You'll be happy to discover how easy it is to learn the E6-B, whether using a printed copy or reading it from the kneeboard. Note: The real E6-B has two sides, front and back, and so does your virtual E6-B. General Information about the front of the E6-B
The front of the E6-B is a Circular Slide Rule plus a few specialized calculation windows. Many of the instructions are printed right on the face of the E6-B. There are two movable slides or rings on the E6-B Slide Rule. Grab the "O" in the word FLIGHT COMPUTER with your mouse to rotate the outer ring. Then pull the outer ring in either direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise) as needed. Keep your mouse on the "O" while rotating the outer ring. To rotate the inner ring, grab the "1:40" in the Hours scale with your mouse and similarly rotate it in either direction. Keep your mouse on the "1:40" while rotating the inner ring. Circular slide rules save space over the conventional versions. The downside is that sometimes the answers to a problem are located where the numbers are upside down. A work-around for this, once you have mastered the E6-B, is to first rotate the outer ring so that the location of the expected answer is at the top, then rotate the inner ring to finish the calculation. OK, let's get started with some calculations
1. True Air Speed (TAS)
Example ... IAS = 140 kts, Altimeter = 7000 ft, OAT = 0° C
2. Fuel Consumption
Example ... Fuel Rate = 93 GPH, Flight Time = 1:45
3. Time and Distance Calculations
Example ... Ground Speed = 132 kts
4. Wind Correction Angle and Ground Speed
General Information about the back of the E6-B
The Back of the E6-B has a calibrated slider ring, a slider bar, and a movable "dot" to represent the pencil dot one would mark on a real E6-B. This side of the pop-up E6-B differs from the real E6-B in the availability of some digital information. There are two sides to the slider bar. The front is calibrated from 30 to 260 kts and the rear is calibrated from 150 to 650 kts. To move the slider bar, click the words "Ground Speed" to the right of the E6-B, then HOLD the mouse on the centerline of the slider bar while sliding it up and down. To change sides of the slider bar, click the words "Ground Speed" again. If you slide the slider bar (front) all the way down, you will find printed instructions at the top of the bar to calculate Wind Correction Angles and Ground Speeds. To read these, besides having excellent eyes, you should have a large monitor screen and fs9 should be set to 1600 dpi.
Below are the instructions to calculate Wind Correction Angles and Ground Speeds for those who can't read those in the pop-up E6-B. NOTE: In the real world you would use True Course and the True directions of winds aloft in your calculations. However, fs9 reports everything in Magnetic, so use Magnetic instead of True with this E6-B if you wish. If you have third-party weather software that reports winds aloft in True direction, then also use True course numbers for your aircraft. You cannot mix True and Magnetic in these calculations.
A ... Set the Data into the E6-B
Example ... Magnetic Course = 270°, TAS = 155 kts,
We enter this data on the E6-B in the following order:
This is easy to remember because it is:
with the winds first.
B ... Read the Wind Correction Angle from the E6-B Note below that the Wind Velocity Mark (Red Dot) is about 9° to the left of the main course line. That is the Wind Correction Angle needed to maintain a course of 270° in our example. Since it is to the left of the main course line, the WCA is minus, and the required aircraft heading is 261°.
C ... Read the Ground Speed from the E6-B The Ground Speed appears on the main course line at the dot centered on the E6-B. It is a bit difficult to see in the example below because the "130" label partially obscures it. Our Ground Speed is 132 kts.
Congratulations, you've learned some basics! The Summary at the beginning of this document should adequately refresh your memory, if necessary, when next using the E6-B. |