REFLECTOR: Dream Panel - Flight Management Systems

[Terry Miles]

Scott:
Let me add my two cents, with the caveat that I do not have GA
experience.  I am still building.  All my flying to date has been
pushing very heavy metal in and out of major airports, and I know it's
not the same.  That said, I would encourage your friend not to file /G
in heavy traffic areas if he plans to use a 6 pack AND then add in the
likes of a 480 with an MX20.  As Ronnie and Kurt have pointed out, ATC
is in overload.  I was on the BoD of the Air Line Pilots' Assoc when R.
Polli took the PATCO controllers out on strike in 1980 over these very
frustrations and lack of action.  That's why over a period of years they
got more and more militant.  Little has changed and I can list off
numerous areas in the country where traffic saturation is dreadful and
tempers flair both in the cockpit and in the RAPCON...or whatever it's
called today.     

If you tell ATC you are GPS equipped by filing /G on a flight plan, and
you then go some place-solo--where they are very busy...they might well
offer you  clearance alternatives (equally awful) that would be a
handful to load into a 480, and then load into a VOR/CDI setup...and
then decide which screen to watch--and which feed to send to your
autopilot.  As Larry Epstein correctly points out below, the 480 is
clearly superior to the 530 for IFR features.  The 530 does not know
SIDs and STARs altho the intersections are available in the 530 data
base for you to enter one at a time.  If you are forced on to or off of
a victor airway at an intersection, the 530 does not know those either
and you must load them one at a time.  With the 480, you can tell it
"V18 from Atlanta to Charleston" and it will load all the intermediate
points for you.  The 530 will not do this, nor does it have a holding
pattern function.  The 480 does.     

Now look at that hypothetical ATL to CHS trip, and ATL Departure starts
handing out reroutes due to wx or traffic or both.  Your friend will
then have to defer to his 6-pack or depend on his 480.  (Dig out a Low
49 and follow along with me.)  Image hearing this on climb out:  "Can
you make 10,000 by Conni?"  So you come back right with a "no."  Then it
says "OK, after CORVI I need you to route V267 to V155 to IRQ and then
Flight Plan route."  Don't think they would never do this.  That's what
I thought too...until they see on your radar strip that you are GPS
equipped and this controller is about the hand you off and either he or
the next guy just doesn't have the time (or the airspace) to spoon feed
you with vectors.  To my thinking the 480 is a well thought out data
entry device with a confirming screen that will show you if you fat
fingered something on the data entry.  By design it does not have a
larger map display, where the bigger screen on the 530 does.  The 530 is
more a VFR point-to-point tool.  (The screen on the 530 is 3/4 inch
taller and 3/4 inch wider) That's why it's common to see the GNS480/mx20
together and why the 530 is often seen alone.  It seems to me the double
entry and the double monitoring of a 480/mx20 AND a 6 pack has a
redundant element that just adds to workload when it gets busy and auto
pilots have to be told which one to follow.  

Another aside:  So you know.  I just got done about a month ago,
examining all this in detail.  I started with the 530.  Since it's
another $1200 more than the 480 I presumed it was the better box.  I
changed my order after I read the manuals.  Also I used Stark Avionics.
They had the best prices I could find, and I was treated very well.  

If your friend is happy w/ his 6-pack, tell him to get a GPSMAP 296 (or
396 if he wants wx). When flying into busy airspace tell him to load
that device with a direct to origin-destination and not to tell ATC he
is GPS equipped.  I got a 296 for $1000, and they keep popping up on
ebay as guys unload them for the 396.  

I predicated a lot of above on the point you said that he wanted IFR.
That's a rather broad term.  Traffic saturation will squeeze out/scare
out GA traffic away from metroplex areas and into the hinterlands  I'll
be flying a lot of ORD to PHL to BOS general areas, altho not into those
terminals.  I realize that Atlanta Hartsfield doesn't likely handle a
lot of GA, and we would instead file to a smaller airport in the area.
That still does not negate arrival airspace congestion which is only
getting worse.  If you can help ATC help you get where you're going, it
will get you better service (sometimes). I'd also, and as a last point,
have your friend to study the offerings of Grand Rapids Tech, to be sure
the impact of his decision to retain steam gauges is fully
understood...esp if he doesn't upgrade his equip all that often.  

Just my two cents
Terry
GNS 480, Grand Rapids EFIS w/ WX option.
XLRG-5



-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Lawrence J. Epstein,MD
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 5:47 PM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Dream Panel


Correction-It will control many transponders. We don't have the GTX330,
so I am not sure if it will display the traffic info.

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Lawrence J. Epstein,MD
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 5:42 PM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Dream Panel

Anyone out there considering the Garmin 430/530 should re-consider and
look at the Garmin (480) CNX-80.  This is the better unit and is already
WAAS certified and operational. I currently fly 1 of these in each of
the aircraft in my flying club. It is a beautiful unit which is MUCH
more capable than the 430.  It's menu's are logical. It will control the
GTX330, including Auto activate/deactivate at any pre-set speed and
display traffic. I have it connected with GPS-s and our Arrows &
Bonanza's fly the (IFR) GPS approaches/Holds and routes perfectly.

Larry Epstein,MD

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