However the bottom line is of all the means we had to determine where we were and where we were going the GPS receivers were the most reliable and accurate...Period...
Now SA has gone, I have found you can fly a "precision approach" using a handheld Garmin 12XL GPS, local altimeter setting (and safety pilot). Even altitude reporting is pretty decent now.
I have even seen approaches where if local altimeter is not available, the ILS or VOR has higher minimums than the GPS approach - if authorised at all!!!
Next time you taxi onto the runway for departure, request a 30 second delay while you get a good position stored, then see if you can find your way back.
And GPS isn't much help in LA, or didn't seem to be.
LA is a good example of where GPS is more useful than normal. As you said, it all looks the same from the air, visibility can be less than ideal, and there is complex airspace to negotiate. You might need to set up your route in advance but once you do you always know where to point the nose.
Last edited by slim_slag; 17th June 2002 at 20:27.