Passenger GPS device for international flights

[MossTravelTV]

Hello all,

I'm looking at buying a handheld GPS device that I can use on flights to see where exactly I am mid-flight. I'm pretty ignorant about these devices and wondered if anyone could give me some pointers as to what exactly I should be looking for in terms of features etc.

I don't have a specific set budget, so am willing to look at all options, both budget and professional.

Thanks in advance! :ok:

[crispey]

I have a hand held Garmin GPS which I have used on board commercial aircraft(with crew permission).It is a GPS V Model which I bought on ebay a few years ago.It's not always easy to acquire enough satellites to get a decent response but it does work.It has a map function and you can expand this with add ons via your PC

You can enter airway waypoints if you know their coordinates as well as your destination.Altitude and speed are shown too.

I'm not up to date with current models but I'm betting they are even better than the one I have.

I'm sure many PPLs on here will have up to date information.Good hunting.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

I have had some limited success with a 'gps device' whilst flying.

One of the major problems (as mentioned by the reply above) is getting enough signal(s) from the satellites to enable your GPS to plot its position. In short, you need to be next to the window, and you need to have your GPS up against the window. Of course, you will then get some strange looks by other passengers or the cabin-crew ("Hey!, all electronics must be switch-off!").

I have tried two different devices, with varying results.

I often get bored on long flights, so I resort to looking out of the window to see what is visible below. When I see things (buildings, terrain, lakes, cities, airports, whatever) of interest I try to find them on Google Earth when I get home. It's a bit 'hit-n-miss' as I'm never really sure where I am, so that's when I decided upon some kind of GPS device.

My first attempt was a GPS Tracker called a Trackstick. This is a non-descript grey oblong about the size of a spectacles-case, with just an on-off switch. You can set it up via PC to record its position every minute (or every 5, or 15, or whatever you want). On boarding, and if I get a window seat, I switch it on, put it inside a small cloth bag which I hang from the window with a small suction-cup. Also in the bag is my MP3 player, and I try to make sure that the crew can clearly see the earphone leads.
All the while we're flying the Trackstick is recording its position every 5 minutes (in my case) into its memory. As I look out of the window, If I see anything of interest I can innocently make a note of the time and details, and when I get home I can work out which are the relevant lat/longs from the Trackstick memory, and look in Google Earth.

The problem with this solution is that there is no way to get an instant read-out of your lat/long in-flight, unless you connect it to your laptop. This generally arouses suspicion ... the laptop is okay, but why is there a cable coming out the back connected to an unknown device stuck to the window!


The other solution I have used with good results is with my smart-phone. I've got an HTC running the Android OS, but maybe there's something similar for Apple iPhones?

On my phone I have a program called GPS Test. I put the phone into 'flight mode', then run the program, and put the phone into the same small cloth bag hanging from the window. The program uses the in-built gps on the phone and displays all sorts of info (speed, heading, height, UTC time, local time, etc) along with the lat/long.
If I see anything of interest outside I can quickly check and note the lat/long.

As before, once I get home I can check my notes, fire-up the PC and check Google Earth.

[Intruder]

Be aware that MANY airlines prohibit ALL GPS devices from operation in flight. In the case of US airlines, they are allowed to do so by FAA regulation, so don't try to argue.

If the airlines you fly allow them, a simple Garmin eTrex will work well enough. There are many eTrex models in a wide price range, so choose on price and extra features.

[The late XV105]

Every device I have tried has worked perfectly - so long as I am sat adjacent to the window; TomTom on an iPAQ PDA with Sysonchip CF card antenna (a few years ago now!), Garmin Nuvi 1440, and currently, HTC One X smartphone running various GPS apps.

The first two listed devices of course show a map - whereas the latter doesn't as none of my apps include maps and of course in flight I have the GPRS antenna switched off (and no signal anyway).

The most amusing thing to happen was on one of the last EZ flights from Prague to East Midlands before the latter base was closed; for use in a post-holiday video, I used my camcorder to record some in flight GPS footage. By chance, this included flying directly up the A505 at 456MPH - and triggering one 30MPH and one 40MPH speed camera alert! :)

[MossTravelTV]

Very helpful answers all, thanks very much, I will investigate a few options and may come back with further queries.

[MossTravelTV]

Having looked at numerous options, I'm now considering buying this device by Gisteq: GiSTEQ Corp. 3D 5Hz High Speed Data Logger (http://www.gisteq.com/DL500/) has anyone on here got any experience of using it or of other Gisteq products, that would care to offer any opinions or expertise?

Once again, thanks in advance. :ok: