Could you share a GPS?

David Megginson and I were discussing the avionics the other day, and we
had a very strange thought.

We know that radios can be pulled out and swapped, usually with a single
screw. Would it be possible to buy a single approach certified GPS, like
a Garmin 530 or something, and put trays in multiple planes, so you could
get the installation certified in each plane, and share the GPS between
the planes?

--
Paul Tomblin , not speaking for anybody
"You are all but subwidgets in a composite container whose logical tab
group I have registered the traversal order of. I can merely point at you
and your popup dialogue will be unmapped unless XmNautoUnmanage is False."

(Paul Tomblin) wrote in message ...
David Megginson and I were discussing the avionics the other day, and we
had a very strange thought.

We know that radios can be pulled out and swapped, usually with a single
screw. Would it be possible to buy a single approach certified GPS, like
a Garmin 530 or something, and put trays in multiple planes, so you could
get the installation certified in each plane, and share the GPS between
the planes?

Irrespective of the regulatory aspects - I'd say this is a bad idea
for the following reasons.

1. Mechanical stress from insertion cycles. I'm guessing the
connectors were not designed for 100s if not thousands of insertion
cycles. There is a good chance with that kind of use that the
connector will bend, break, or start to make intermittent contact.
Ditto for the screw that secures the 530 into the stack, over the
course of time, it would strip.

2. No matter how carefully the 530 is handled, eventually it will be
dropped.

-Nathan

My installation of a 530 required a 337 as well as a flight test prior to
certification by the FSDO. Removing the box from one plane would render it
without a primary nav and comm. It hardly seems worth it, despite the fact
that the 530 is such a great box.

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 02:33:00 +0000, Paul Tomblin wrote:

David Megginson and I were discussing the avionics the other day, and we
had a very strange thought.

We know that radios can be pulled out and swapped, usually with a single
screw. Would it be possible to buy a single approach certified GPS, like
a Garmin 530 or something, and put trays in multiple planes, so you could
get the installation certified in each plane, and share the GPS between
the planes?

Interesting question. I suspect it might work, but I sure would not want
to share my 530 with someone else. You would have to go through the setup
pages each swap to ensure you are feeding and receiving data in the
correct formats. Also, there is the question of wear and tear with all
that swapping.

jerry

(Paul Tomblin) wrote in message ...
David Megginson and I were discussing the avionics the other day, and we
had a very strange thought.

We know that radios can be pulled out and swapped, usually with a single
screw. Would it be possible to buy a single approach certified GPS, like
a Garmin 530 or something, and put trays in multiple planes, so you could
get the installation certified in each plane, and share the GPS between
the planes?

I don't think there's any legal reason against it.

Personally, I would rather share my underwear or my toothbrush.
I speak from experience here.

We have only an older IFR-certified GPS which is barely
customizable. But it *is* supposed to be able to be operated
out of the plane for training purposes, and initially we tried
that a few times. But Gremlins emerged; the CDI would only go
1/2 way on one side, altitude encoding stop reading, etc. All
traced to flecks of dust or crap on the contacts.

Then I slipped on ice on my way to the plane one time, and
dropped it. Well-sealed into a well padded box so no harms,
but still, YIKES.

Now it stays in the plane, and if we need to sit in the plane
and page through the thing until the battery runs down to
re-fam with it, So Be It.

Cheers,
Sydney