jeff wrote:
Geoff Schultz wrote:
...

How do others have their displays configured? How does the CG have
their's configured? What's the purpose of N-up vs heading-up?


My wife and I have this same discussion over the chartplotter, and the
car GPS. She favors "Track Up" while I favor "Course Up" for situation
where we're following a constrained course, and "North Up" when we're in
open situations.

I have always used a chart as my primary tool, and a small screen GPS
chartplotter for location. Last year I upgraded to a nicer Garmin 545,
so I'm finding I have to rethink the way I navigate.

This reminds me of a situation many years ago delivering a Folkboat from
New York to Boston. The owner and I had a "navigational disagreement"
and in the aftermath we realize that we visualized the situation
completely differently. He "placed himself" at water level, and
oriented using various range lines, whereas I "raised myself up" to a
birds-eye view where I could create a map in my mind. Each method has
its own limitations and is prone to different types of errors.

I think that this has to do with the way we orient ourselves in the
spatial world. Some people are "North up" and some are "Heading up."
No right or wrong, just what works for you.

I suspect that people who are visual are "North up" types while verbals
are "Heading up."

I think that this correlates to some degree to a male/female preference
such as:
Male/Female
Visual/Verbal
North/Head

Once I had a cable crew with one guy from a plantation in South Carolina
who could not read or write. I also had two fellows a couple of years
out of college: English and History as I recall.

The college grads were fine if you told them "Rig this pull just like
the one we did last Thursday." They were experts at rote memory. If I
said "...just like last Thursday but exit left instead of right" they
were totally flumuxed.

The guy from the plantation, never told him anything except "Attack" and
"Good job." Now he had great spatial orientation skills, if no
edumacation. He was one of the most intelligent fellows I ever met.

Now if you want to meet a dolt, listen to me sign.