It can be used to set a one or two mile offset from an unfamiliar airport
you are flying to, so it comes up on your left side where you can see it
rather than up under your nose where you might miss it. I used it that way
a couple of times on a Northstar M3, but didn't find it worth the trouble,
and I have never used it on my 430W. I can't think of any IFR use for the
feature.

Stan


"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Just picked up my aircraft with the GNS430W upgrade and was reading the
manual to see what new features are now included. In there I discovered
the
feature that allows the pilot to purposely fly a parallel offset course
anywhere from 1 to 99 miles. The only tedious characteristic of this
feature
(IMO) is that the pilot must set this option every time a flight plan is
activated, rather than having the option "stick" across flights. Thus,
over
time it seems to me a pilot may eventually opt to not set it.

Anyone use this feature? I am curious about its popularity.

--
Peter