Partial Panel on a Garmin 296?

[Curlytips]

On a well-known auction site there's a claim you can fly partial panel on a Garmin if your vacuum packs up. I've seen the new Dynon gadget and that would certainly work - but is very expensive as a back-up. I guess there's enough info on a Garmin to give you an equivalent of partial panel - but has anyone tried it? If I get an affirmative, I guess it works?

[flybymike]

Yes, it should be possible but subject to usual caveats.
No (direct) pitch information.
Bank information predicated on rate of turn.
Speed is groundspeed not airspeed.

[Mark 1]

There are no gyros in the Garmin. Rate of turn indication is based on measured track changes and is pretty coarse.

I think it would be pretty challenging to fly partial panel using that, but I haven't tried.

I've seen a battery powered turn coordinator using electronic gyros for about $200, which would probably be a better bet

[Big Pistons Forever]

The 296 processor is too slow so there is a lot of lag. However the 496 has a completely flyable panel page. If you turn with 30 deg of bank the heading only lags about 5 degs from actual.