Passed PPL - GPS?
Join Date: Jun 2003
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The answer depends on why you are flying.
If you want to play, or pretend to be a WW2 Spitfire pilot, use a map and a compass.
If you want to go from A to B and be sure you won't bust some controlled airspace, etc, etc, etc, etc, get the best and biggest GPS you can afford. It will transform the accuracy and confidence of your flying. I have not done dead reckoning (or used the stupid circular slide rule) since the day after my PPL (except on various checkrides where I had to) and don't ever intend to. I have three GPSs in the cockpit, all with independent antennae.
If you want to play, or pretend to be a WW2 Spitfire pilot, use a map and a compass.
If you want to go from A to B and be sure you won't bust some controlled airspace, etc, etc, etc, etc, get the best and biggest GPS you can afford. It will transform the accuracy and confidence of your flying. I have not done dead reckoning (or used the stupid circular slide rule) since the day after my PPL (except on various checkrides where I had to) and don't ever intend to. I have three GPSs in the cockpit, all with independent antennae.
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Some good points raised however GPS has been around some time now.
Most decent mobile phones have good GPS and a decent map installed.
My N95 has no trouble locking onto a signal in the aircraft and showing where I am, if this is all you are after do you need to purchase anything else?
It even tracks my flight for later download and can show height/speed heading etc.
Not saying you should use this as a dedicated nav tool but if you only want something as a basic tool to assist your nav then it will suffice.
Most decent mobile phones have good GPS and a decent map installed.
My N95 has no trouble locking onto a signal in the aircraft and showing where I am, if this is all you are after do you need to purchase anything else?
It even tracks my flight for later download and can show height/speed heading etc.
Not saying you should use this as a dedicated nav tool but if you only want something as a basic tool to assist your nav then it will suffice.
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Airbusboy,
Congrats on passing your skills test. I recently passed my PPL as well and found myself asking a similar question that you are now asking
Personally, my intentions with flying are to travel for short day trips to Europe. All I want at present is to be confident and safe
During the early part of my PPL I got myself hopelessly lost and very disorientated before eventually sighting Didcot power station miles off on the horizon. From there I picked up a train track back to my flying club which I saw on the map
From that day I told myself under no circumstance did I ever want to be in a situation where I had absolutely no idea where I was and made it my goal to really understand how to use the range of radio nav aids
Having passed the PPL in the minimal hours I still felt that I was not confident enough in using these aids for any meaningful trip so I continued flying with my instructor using just these – travelling around the London zone for example just tracking the VOR’s. I found this to be excellent experience for myself and really helped boost my confidence especially with the airspace quiet tight around that part
Having done about 10 hrs of these and similar trips to France with my instructor post the PPL I bought a Garmin 495 which I absolutely love. The Sat nav for me is just a perfect companion to use in conjuncture with the other radio aids that you fly with
I certainly don’t just follow a line on the garmin but I do use it to help confirm what I believe to be true from the other radio aids. From a personal viewpoint, learning to use radio navigation and feeling confident with it will really helps your confidence in flying anywhere meaningful. Having a sat nav to back this up just further increases this confidence and with it your confidence to try more things
At leas that has been my experience
Good luck, nick
Congrats on passing your skills test. I recently passed my PPL as well and found myself asking a similar question that you are now asking
Personally, my intentions with flying are to travel for short day trips to Europe. All I want at present is to be confident and safe
During the early part of my PPL I got myself hopelessly lost and very disorientated before eventually sighting Didcot power station miles off on the horizon. From there I picked up a train track back to my flying club which I saw on the map
From that day I told myself under no circumstance did I ever want to be in a situation where I had absolutely no idea where I was and made it my goal to really understand how to use the range of radio nav aids
Having passed the PPL in the minimal hours I still felt that I was not confident enough in using these aids for any meaningful trip so I continued flying with my instructor using just these – travelling around the London zone for example just tracking the VOR’s. I found this to be excellent experience for myself and really helped boost my confidence especially with the airspace quiet tight around that part
Having done about 10 hrs of these and similar trips to France with my instructor post the PPL I bought a Garmin 495 which I absolutely love. The Sat nav for me is just a perfect companion to use in conjuncture with the other radio aids that you fly with
I certainly don’t just follow a line on the garmin but I do use it to help confirm what I believe to be true from the other radio aids. From a personal viewpoint, learning to use radio navigation and feeling confident with it will really helps your confidence in flying anywhere meaningful. Having a sat nav to back this up just further increases this confidence and with it your confidence to try more things
At leas that has been my experience
Good luck, nick
Join Date: Mar 2008
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A practical suggestion
I think we've seen both sides of the argument here (and in the other threads on this subject), so can I offer a practical suggestion which helped me in the early days.
Buy a GPS, then plan your trips in threes - whether it be three legs to the same trip or three consecutive trips. Plan and plog the whole thing as if you are going to fly it using map and compass only, then fly leg 1: purely map and compass, with a switched on and programmed GPS on board which is either covered up or positioned so you can't see it (so it can record the leg for future reference); leg 2: VOR / NDB / DME primary while following the map, with GPS as for leg 1; leg 3 GPS primary with finger on map and VOR/NDB info as a backup. That way you keep your VFR nav (which you will most definitely need for CPL nav) up to date, get some practice in on "traditional" instrument flying and get up to speed with GPS. The GPS return will tell you how well you did on legs 1 and 2 and the VOR/NDB will tell you as you go whether the GPS is playing fairly or not. And if leg 1 or 2 goes south, use the GPS to put you back on track, then keep going.
Buy a GPS, then plan your trips in threes - whether it be three legs to the same trip or three consecutive trips. Plan and plog the whole thing as if you are going to fly it using map and compass only, then fly leg 1: purely map and compass, with a switched on and programmed GPS on board which is either covered up or positioned so you can't see it (so it can record the leg for future reference); leg 2: VOR / NDB / DME primary while following the map, with GPS as for leg 1; leg 3 GPS primary with finger on map and VOR/NDB info as a backup. That way you keep your VFR nav (which you will most definitely need for CPL nav) up to date, get some practice in on "traditional" instrument flying and get up to speed with GPS. The GPS return will tell you how well you did on legs 1 and 2 and the VOR/NDB will tell you as you go whether the GPS is playing fairly or not. And if leg 1 or 2 goes south, use the GPS to put you back on track, then keep going.
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Another vote for Skydemon , I run it on an HD2 HTC , and it works lovely.
Its got me out of a few sticky situations so far.
There's no excuse for poor map reading however my GPS is far more accurate than my map reading and whizz wheel will ever be.
Its got me out of a few sticky situations so far.
There's no excuse for poor map reading however my GPS is far more accurate than my map reading and whizz wheel will ever be.
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One problem with a totally self contained GPS is that it may not get a good reception in a metal cockpit.
The Garmin x96 units are pretty good but not perfect, in this respect.
And user reports on GPS-capable "gadgets" are highly variable. For example I know of owners of Iphones who say the GPS is crap, and some say it is great. Same for the Ipad; some find it great and some find it crap.
A fairly persistent thread, reference the Ipad too, seems to be an inability to acquire a lock if switched ON while already moving. This is a very old issue with GPS receivers. I have a Fuji LOOX N560 PDA, a Thuraya/Hughes 7100 satphone, had a Thuraya SG2520 satphone, and none of them will acquire a lock while flying. The N560 (which I use mostly to run TomTom) won't even acquire in a car if driving... well it does after maybe half an hour.
So I would caution against consumer IT hardware for this.
The Garmin x96 units are pretty good but not perfect, in this respect.
And user reports on GPS-capable "gadgets" are highly variable. For example I know of owners of Iphones who say the GPS is crap, and some say it is great. Same for the Ipad; some find it great and some find it crap.
A fairly persistent thread, reference the Ipad too, seems to be an inability to acquire a lock if switched ON while already moving. This is a very old issue with GPS receivers. I have a Fuji LOOX N560 PDA, a Thuraya/Hughes 7100 satphone, had a Thuraya SG2520 satphone, and none of them will acquire a lock while flying. The N560 (which I use mostly to run TomTom) won't even acquire in a car if driving... well it does after maybe half an hour.
So I would caution against consumer IT hardware for this.
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Why not combine the best of both worlds and get a FlyAngel?
I've recently been introduced to it, FANTASTIC bit of kit - it simply shows your position overlayed onto a digital CAA half mil chart, and no more, minus the basic ETA and fly DCT functions etc.
Just to clarify, it is a GPS, personally now my favourite. It really helps you to gauge what speed you travel over your charts, and it means you can see your position and pick out features along your route with great certainty. It also helps your map reading skills, and as an aside, because all the newer CAA charts have frequencies next to most ATZ/MATZs etc, you can just zoom in and see info like that as well.
Worth looking into!
I've recently been introduced to it, FANTASTIC bit of kit - it simply shows your position overlayed onto a digital CAA half mil chart, and no more, minus the basic ETA and fly DCT functions etc.
Just to clarify, it is a GPS, personally now my favourite. It really helps you to gauge what speed you travel over your charts, and it means you can see your position and pick out features along your route with great certainty. It also helps your map reading skills, and as an aside, because all the newer CAA charts have frequencies next to most ATZ/MATZs etc, you can just zoom in and see info like that as well.
Worth looking into!
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I don't think the FlyAngel is available any more. The NATS Airspace Aware is the most equivalent product at a fraction of the cost that the FlyAngel was.
AWARE - POWERED BY AIRBOX IN ASSOCIATION WITH NATS
AWARE - POWERED BY AIRBOX IN ASSOCIATION WITH NATS
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I think I might have posted this before, but anyone who can read French should find the following guide very informative: http://www.sefa-fto.net/docs/guide_gps_en_vfr_sefa.pdf
