"Richard Hertz" wrote
I am not anti-technology, but an instrument pilot is supposed to be able to
fly partial panel, etc.

Sure. But nobody can fly an approach with no navaids at all. If the
panel goes dark, that's exactly what you have unless you brought a
handheld.

To say that an instructor NEEDS one seems to imply
that they can't do without it.

And when the panel goes dark in IMC, that's exactly the case.

I don't know why one would not be able to provide vectors without one. A
simple compass rose on a sectional/enroute chart is probably all the
visual/mental help one needs, though I have never instructed.

That's true when you can accurately determine your position by looking
out the window. When that's the case, I don't even bother turning the
GPS on. Try giving vectors at night over featureless terrain, and
it's a different ball game. To give decent vectors, you need to know
your position within a mile or two at all times. Can YOU do that at
night over featureless terrain?

I do about half my IFR instruction at night - it's more realistic that
way, and makes the student work harder. I did my own IFR training the
same way. Around here, the land is flat and all the little bedroom
communities around Houston look the same. Under those conditions, a
GPS is almost a necessity for vectoring.

The problem with handhelds is that people come to rely on them so much they
lose all other navigation skills, procedures and situational awareness.
When the batteries die or the thing freezes, the pilot is left with
unpracticed, old skills and is in trouble.

No argument. I actually know one who landed in a field because her
GPS batteries died. She flew over (or at least within a few miles of)
the airport at least half a dozen times and was never able to find it.
It was daylight, blue skies and puffy cu's.

Michael