Garmin Behind the Curve on WAAS GPS VNAV Approaches

(Jedi Nein) wrote in message . com...

Howdy!

GARMIN is planning for WAAS to be a software upgrade. The difference?
Software upgrades can be done at a dealer.

Um, is the terrain stuff going to be a processor upgrade then?

I thought part of the issue w/ the Garmin units was that they
update 3x at an interval where FAA's WAAS spec requires 5x,
and Garmin was unsuccessful at lobbying the FAA to decrease
the time interval. Doesn't sound like a software issue to me
but whatdoIknow.

OTOH, if they take care of the hardware now, they can handle
WAAS as a software upgrade later.

UPSAT's CNX80's WAAS-Enabled GPS is a bunch of marketing hype until
such time that the FAA allows Precision GPS approaches. Aloft, a
difference of 1' (WAAS) versus 3' (GPS) doesn't make a critical
difference in avoiding terrain or other obstacles.

Hmmm, somehow I thought the difference in precision was greater
than that.

The FAA's slowness in implementing WAAS approaches and approvals might
be deliberate due to the number of airspace and altitude busts by
pilots with the fancy GPS units on board. The FAA may be waiting for
the pilot community to get themselves trained on these GPS units
before certifying the system as safe for the general aviation pilots.

Documentation on said number of airspace and altitude busts? As
far as I know, if one does bust altitude or airspace, no one keeps
track of what sort of GPS one had on board.

Cheers,
Sydney