wrote in message ...

OTOH, the typical light aircraft is, relatively speaking, an expensive
(albeit
nice, if used carefully) toy.

Alternatively, you could say that a $1000 capital investment and $50 per
month in subscription fees can give a $50,000 GA airplane the same quality
weather information as is available to a $10,000,000 business jet -- that is
quite a value.

I am not saying that a piston single can ever match the weather dispatch
rate of a business jet. But when you consider the incremental improvement
that can be gained from weather datalink -- and especially from portable
weather dataillnk -- it is indeed an excellent value for those who use
piston airplanes for practical travel.

This is all very similar to the situational awareness advantage gained by
portable GPS systems -- a handheld Garmin 295 or 196 gives more situational
awareness than used to be available on steam-gauge airliners certified for
Cat III landings.


--
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com