New Garmin 396

In article ine.com,
Andrew Gideon wrote:
That all being said, Garmin produces a very good, polished navigation
system that is hard to beat--in my opinion, none of the PDA-based
software products does navigation as cleanly.

That's true, but I still want a feature available via the PDA route and not
via the Garmin route: a backup AI. But then I fly club airplanes with 430s
installed, so when I think "handheld GPS" I'm thinking "backup"...and I
want as much backup as possible.


Honestly, if I had a 430/530 or other approach-certified GPS in my
panel, I don't know that I'd even invest in a hand held GPS. It might
be very nice to have your Garmin 396 interfaced with your 430/530,
GTX330, and SL30/SL40, but at some point I think the gadgetry reaches
the point of diminishing returns.



JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
Honestly, if I had a 430/530 or other approach-certified GPS in my
panel, I don't know that I'd even invest in a hand held GPS. It might
be very nice to have your Garmin 396 interfaced with your 430/530,
GTX330, and SL30/SL40, but at some point I think the gadgetry reaches
the point of diminishing returns.

Garmin 396... WAAS capable
Garmin 430/530... WAAS ??? (someday. maybe.)

In article ,
john smith wrote:
Honestly, if I had a 430/530 or other approach-certified GPS in my
panel, I don't know that I'd even invest in a hand held GPS. It might
be very nice to have your Garmin 396 interfaced with your 430/530,
GTX330, and SL30/SL40, but at some point I think the gadgetry reaches
the point of diminishing returns.

Garmin 396... WAAS capable
Garmin 430/530... WAAS ??? (someday. maybe.)

Yes, I understand, which is one of the reasons that I DON'T have a 430
in my panel. I'm not sure how much WAAS buys you with a hand held.


JKG

Garmin 396... WAAS capable
Garmin 430/530... WAAS ??? (someday. maybe.)

Handheld = not IFR approved.
Panel mount GNS 430/530 allows VOR, GPS and ILS approaches.

Ron Lee

"Ron Lee" wrote

Handheld = not IFR approved.
Panel mount GNS 430/530 allows VOR, GPS and ILS approaches.

Hypothetical situation.

A guy is on an IFR cross country flight, in and out of IFR conditions. His
latest weather reports indicate that his destination has ceilings that might
be 1000 and 1/2 mile, but also might be better. An alternate within his
comfortable fuel range is mostly clear. His departure airport is also
mostly clear.

Halfway there, his IFR approved GPS suddenly craps out, but his 396 with XM
is doing great, and has plenty of power.

What should he do?
--
Jim in NC

Halfway there, his IFR approved GPS suddenly craps out, but his 396 with XM
is doing great, and has plenty of power.

What other IFR approved navigation equipment does he have?

If he has VOR, and there's a VOR approach at the destination, I see no
reason not to continue on and shoot the VOR approach with the IFR
certified VOR equipment on the aircraft, using the handheld GPS for
situational awareness.

Jose
--
Nothing takes longer than a shortcut.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jose" wrote

What other IFR approved navigation equipment does he have?

If he has VOR, and there's a VOR approach at the destination, I see no
reason not to continue on and shoot the VOR approach with the IFR
certified VOR equipment on the aircraft, using the handheld GPS for
situational awareness.

His destination and all options only have GPS instrument approaches, or all
his other IFR instruments crapped out.

What he is thinking of doing, is not telling anyone that his other stuff
crapped out, and go ahead shooting a GPS approach to high minimums, and if
the weather does not let him decide early to go visual, go missed.
--
Jim in NC

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 03:02:32 -0400, "Morgans"
wrote:


"Jose" wrote

What other IFR approved navigation equipment does he have?

If he has VOR, and there's a VOR approach at the destination, I see no
reason not to continue on and shoot the VOR approach with the IFR
certified VOR equipment on the aircraft, using the handheld GPS for
situational awareness.

His destination and all options only have GPS instrument approaches, or all
his other IFR instruments crapped out.

What he is thinking of doing, is not telling anyone that his other stuff
crapped out, and go ahead shooting a GPS approach to high minimums, and if
the weather does not let him decide early to go visual, go missed.

Wouldn't that violate the "must report equipment malfunction that
affects navigation" FAR?

Isn't the "right" answer in this case to report the malfunction and go
to the airport which allows descent from enroute VMC and get it fixed?

His destination and all options only have GPS instrument approaches, or all
his other IFR instruments crapped out.

If all the other IFR instruments crapped out, something is seriously
wrong that needs fixing. Go to the VFR alternate. If, once VFR, the
weather at the destination allows VFR flying, then fly VFR to the
destination (assuming it is unlikely that the rest of the airplane will
fall apart, leaving the pilot clutching the 396 and an empty yoke, like
in the cartoons.

What he is thinking of doing, is not telling anyone that his other stuff
crapped out, and go ahead shooting a GPS approach to high minimums, and if
the weather does not let him decide early to go visual, go missed.

Yes, I figured. That would be an emergency procedure. This isn't an
emergency yet. Don't make it one.

Yes, it's likely that the 396 will do fine. But it may be "less than
fine" in a surprising way, since it hasn't been tested in ways the FAA
considers sufficient. I have issues with the FAA sometimes, but they
also have their good points.

Jose
--
Nothing takes longer than a shortcut.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Morgans wrote:
What he is thinking of doing, is not telling anyone that his other stuff
crapped out, and go ahead shooting a GPS approach to high minimums, and if
the weather does not let him decide early to go visual, go missed.

The handheld doesn't have RAIM.
Shooting the GPS approach with the handheld is an invitation to disaster.