Originally Posted by
Uplinker
Compass direction is vital for ones's situational awareness - for dead reckoning or lining up on the correct runway, or flying a raw data ILS, or tracking an NDB.
I find GPS track to be far more useful than compass heading for flying a raw data ILS. I'm quite sure it would be better than compass heading for an NDB approach too but I haven't flown one since I had GPS available. GPS track is at least as good as compass heading for everything else listed.
Most, if not all, GPS based navigation systems can be configured to display ground speed and track and these parameters are very useful even if no destination or route has been entered.