GPS is not a prerequisite for flight. It is an excuse for not teaching for nav properly.
and
whenever I see somebody using GPS, it is head down and a near constant effort to bracket the line. In that regard GPS has a lot in common with Map/Watch/Pencil VFR in that it is badly trained, planned and implemented.
Are two of the most important statements made in this thread. GPS, appropriately used, is an effective means of assuring suitable position awareness. It is not the only way, however, and there is a constant underlying responsibility placed upon every VFR pilot, that navigation be correctly accomplished with visual reference to the outside world. GPS does not count for this.
Too many times, I've climbed into the cockpit with a "new" pilot, who immediately started pulling out equipment from a flight bag, and plugging in wires everywhere. The look of shock on his face, when I said "let's do it without" just to remind him that there is an underlying responsibility to be able to.
An oldtimer flew me 100 mile recently so I could pick up a nordo aircraft. As we were chatting about using GPS for VFR trips, his quit. I laughed, and looked at mine - it had quit too. I pulled out my other little Garmin, and it would not come up either. We looked at each other and laughed, because we knew we'd have to get where we were going the "old way", and dug out a chart. Problem was, the only reference I had to the location we were going was the logged waypoint in my GPS, which was now inaccessable to me. Now it was winter, everything looked very different. Having memorized the location by what crops were found in the nearby fields was no longer of use! I found the private strip first time, but that was just luck, not good navigation!
Use GPS as a reassurance, but don't get caught not being able to find your way without it. That means new pilots; learn good chart navigation techniques. If your instructor cannot teach you, ridicule him/her, and find someone who can!
Pilot DAR