Jay Beckman wrote:

Word from AOPA Expo was starting January 1 ...

Hey, welcome back, Jay! I trust you had a great time?

This WAAS upgrade appears to be a two step upgrade. The first step
involves sending in the unit for a hardware update, which will be available
January, and the second step involves a software update that can be done
with a data card. This second step will not be available until March or
April.

If that is how it works, I may not bother to send my unit in until Spring
or early Summer. I am still using my aircraft to commute twice per week
and could not afford to be without the GPS unit (keeping in mind it is also
my primary comm and nav radio) for the two weeks it will probably take in
turn-around to get the hardware updated.

In the past, Garmin was good about offering loaners to those of us who had
to send in the units but I suspect with such a strong, pent-up demand
waiting to unleash, there will be no loaner program for this upgrade.

--
Peter