In-Flight Weather / GPS

In article .com,
"Denny" wrote:

Jon and Dan, needs and wants are perceived items... So, your and my
needs and wants are likely to be different... Gadgets are nice... I was
an early adopter of GPS, buying the manufacturer's prototype unit, on
display at Oshkosh, the PRONAV 100 (later became the Garmin 100) the
year they came out... I used that unit (with help from MU2 Mike, Thanks
Mike!) until just recently when it died for the second and final
time... Currently I have a 195 and a 196 on the yokes... I have looked
at the various panel mount units up through the WAAS enabled stuff, but
I don't see enough improvement in-flight to justify the cost... A VFR
GPS and a VOR/ILS/DME gets me where I need to be 99% of the time, at
minimum expense... If they shut down Flight Service tomorrow then I
will buy the latest and greatest in in-flight WEATHER / WAAS GPS / COM
/ NAV / AUTOPILOT / COFFEE DISPENSER mounted in the panel...


I agree that, so far that I've seen, there's nothing super-compelling
about the PDA or Tablet GPS capability over the GPSMAP 195 that I have
now. In fact, I'm more confident in the performance of the 195 than a
Windows-based software package.

The big deal for me is the weather. My wife and I are IFR pilots who
make every attempt to stay out of IMC, but sometimes it isn't possible.
When I need to know what's going on up ahead and make a decision on
where to go to get around it, request new clearances, etc., I don't have
10 minutes to wait on flight service to tell me what their
interpretation is, and then another 10 minutes for the controller who's
swamped to tell me whether he can give me the amended clearance or not.
If I get a new route that's different than the one that I requested, I
now may have to go back to flight service to find out what kind of fun
I'm in for on my new route.

I guess it comes down to what type of flying you do or intend to do. If
you can take your time, be extra-conservative, and relaxed in going from
point A to B, you probably don't need the weather. My wife and I find
it difficult to find time for vacation, so when we decide to go, we need
to go, as long as things are nuts. We won't make a flight unless we are
confident that we can make it safely, and the weather may equip us to
make a better decision one way or the other.

I also set out on this project to determine the practicality of giving
up paper charts and plates for something electronic. Even on a Tablet,
I'm not sure that the flight planning/electronic charting stuff is up to
snuff quite yet. I'm sure Jepp's package is great, but Jepp charges a
premium for perks that I just don't need. If I don't use the system for
GPS and I don't use it for charts, all of a sudden I end up with a very
expensive system for in-flight weather. Is it worth it? I don't yet
know. I think I'll have to bug some local pilots to see their
installations before I'm convinced.


JKG