"M" wrote in message oups.com...

I found Garmin 196's panel page good enough for emergency flying. I
tried it once in IMC (with all my panel working, of course!) and it
seems to work pretty well. The most important instrument I think,
during straight and level or shallow turns, is a good heading
reference. GPS gives you that. (Yes I know it's not exactly heading
but a ground track) 196 also gives a GPS derived turn rate indicator
that looks like a TC. It has a little lag but it doesn't lag any more
than the T&B. Combined with the GPS heading reference it's good enough
to keep the wings level and on an accurate heading.

Flying the 196's panel page is a lot easier than partial panel with a
turn needle and a wet compass, I can at least tell you that! If I ever
lose all my panel I won't sweat shooting an approach with it if that's
the only option I have.

I leave my 196 on the panel page everytime I'm in IMC.


I haven't done that much experimentation with that, but what I have done has led me to conclude that the
success of it would vary widely depending [inversely] on the level of turbulence. If it's smooth just about
anything will work--compass, adf, gps, etc-- but if its fairly bumpy none of them will work very will keeping
you right side up. My C210 may not be as slick as a Bonanza or Mooney, but it's still not very stable in roll.

Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ