Garmin 396 -- Maybe I spoke too soon...

- Sales of the 396 have virtually shut down Garmin's sales of 430s and
530s.
It is simply superior to their in-panel stuff, and far less expensive.
(And
Garmin actually expected this to happen.)

This does not compute. The 396 is not capable of doing IFR
approaches. Seems to me that the two are aimed at entirely different
markets.

What percentage of 430s/530s are installed in aircraft owned by guys who
actually use them in hard IFR conditions? I'd be willing to bet it's a
pretty small percentage.

On my airport, they have been installed almost exclusively in the "rich
guys" planes -- NONE of whom (to my knowledge) fly hard IFR. (In fact, off
the top of my head I can only name one guy on our airport who flies hard IFR
with his personal aircraft.)

The other reasons I can think of a

- The 396 does weather better than the 430/530.
- If you're buying a $3000 hand-held, you're probably not buying a $5000
panel-mount at the same time
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"