Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Old Pilot, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Pilot and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Old Pilot
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Old Pilot:
- 37.319589, -78.921961
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Old Pilot
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Appomattox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Appomattox County
- Since Old Pilot is near Campbell County and also Amherst County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Campbell County
- eBird sighting report for Amherst County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Pilot ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Chap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Deacon ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Evergreen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Kelly
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Six Mile
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Spout Spring
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
- Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
- Spring Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spring Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
- Spring Mills is located in Appomattox County
- Stonewall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Stonewall Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stonewall Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall Mills
- Stonewall Mills is located in Appomattox County
- Three Forks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
- Three Forks is located in Campbell County
How Far From Old Pilot to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Old Pilot to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Old Pilot once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Old Pilot and extending to:
- Appomattox, which is the Seat of Appomattox County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 82 miles [132 km]<4> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Old Pilot to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 149 miles [239.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,045 miles [9,728.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,748 miles [10,859.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,626 miles [7,444.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Appomattox County: www.appomattox.com/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Old Pilot, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Pilot) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Old Pilot. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3196, Longitude: -78.9220 In this case, the coordinates for Old Pilot have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Old Pilot to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.072 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.546 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.068 degrees. |