On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 03:39:08 GMT, Steven Barnes wrote:

My examiner left our panel mounted VFR GPS on while I was doing partial
panel stuff. After that approach, I noticed him casually turn the GPS to a
page that didn't give me any useful info. Not sure if it was on purpose or
not. At least it gave me a chance to see how the winds were affecting my
ground track. Made the next 2 approaches, even without GPS, a bit easier.

On my checkride, I did everything possible NOT to use my VFR panel mounted
GPS on my partial panel approach UNTIL the DE gave me a subtle hint to use
"every available" tool in my plane.

With that subtle hint, it didn't take me long on my partial panel approach
to code in DRCT JAN, put it on the CDI page and fly my partial panel with
the help of the GPS.

I had to set the CDI page to show my track and desired track, all while
flying the plane.

The DE's rational was that you lost vacuum, you still have electrical, so
use all tools available on the electrical system.

On my full panel approaches, the DE was glad I used the GPS to monitor the
tracking of my flight in the CDI window. It helped me figure out the
crosswind component to set my header bug on my localizer and ILS
approaches. I never use the map feature anyway, so it felt comfortable for
me on the CDI window on my checkride.

Allen