Birthday Present -Sat Nav
 

I've managed to get the family to club together for my 25th birthday! I take my skills in 2 weeks and it's my birthday in 4, so finger crossed if all goes well I may be passed in time for my bday!

I really want a sat nav, problem is Ive never used a areoplane one and I'm not very famiular with the brands? Types (airspace warners etc)

Budget will be around 500-600£

Is that enough for a decent unit or is it worth me putting cash to it and buyi. A better one?

Unless you're hard-core IFR and need a specialized unit for that, I'd go for an iPad 2 with Air Nav Pro on it. Make sure to get the 3G model because only those have GPS on-board, or be prepared to spend extra money on a separate (compatible) Bluetooth GPS.

Oh Cool.

I already have Ipad. Are they a not a bit awkward in the cockpit of a PA28/38 with Pax?

I’m doing my IMC course once I've passed and logged enough hours, not sure if that makes a difference to unit cost?

Sorry about my lack of knowledge. I’ve only been learning for 3 months and never really had a interest before then.

I have a Garmin Aera 500 and have been using it through the summer, which will meet your price bracket.

By and large, I'm really happy with it. Good clear navigation, some useful tools such as the E6b, flight log and HSI page, once practiced quite easy to use as a source of reference for various data such as airspace heights, frequencies, approach aids, and so-on.

On net, if somebody nicked it next week, I think I'd buy the same again.

Also with a bit of massaging can help out in getting onto instrument approaches, and whilst not legally cleared as such, does have all the waypoints for published GNSS approaches if you need a "get out of gaol" card one day, as well as GPS guidance onto any ILS.

The extra few quid on a yoke mount is well worth it. Best powered from a lighter socket, but I can get 3+ hours out of it without so long as I'm careful with the screen brightness. Another £30 with a shop in the USA got me a lead that allows me to patch its audio warnings into my headset.

G

You can get both suction devices so you can stick them to the windscreen, and kneeboard-like devices so you can strap them to your leg.

Or do as I do - let the passenger hold them. It gives them something to look at and something to do during the flight.

As far as the IMC is concerned, you will learn to fly on whatever *certified* instruments there are in the plane. AFAIK, a portable device can never be certified and thus cannot officially be used for navigation under IFR. (That they can augment your navigation and enhance your situational awareness is just a bonus.)

Hi all,

As I am new as well, and currently close to the same point as benppl, what would peoples thoughts be on the SkyDemon mobile GPS solution?

Was shown this by a friend, and wanted to see if the community thinks it's any good?

Many thanks,

reading a bit more into the AirNav iPad/iPhone side of things seems to be a decent shout.

Reading though, it seems its just easier to use my 4 (4s) in a few weeks with a suction mount?

I am not sure that is quite true.

In general, in private flying, nobody prescribes what navigation method should be used.

Only equipment to be carried is prescribed; this to me implies it should be functional but it cannot possibly imply it should actually be used because e.g. the UK ADF for all IFR in CAS requirement cannot possibly be a requirement to navigate enroute using the ADF...

So a handheld GPS should be 100% legal for navigation in IMC.

Enroute (Eurocontrol flight plan) IFR is a different thing because there you need to carry a BRNAV approved GPS installation, and that can only be panel mounted. But even there there is no law which says what device you actually navigate with.

This stuff has been done to death many years ago; if you google Usenet for "tuna sandwich navigation" you will find long threads there :)

BTW the built in Ipad2 GPS is rubbish. I have flown with mine and it is quite capable of losing the GPS fix anytime during a flight. You need an external GPS.

Although legally you may be right, I'm pretty sure that during IMC *training*, the instructor would not appreciate you pulling out the iPad (or any portable device for that matter) and use that as your primary nagivation device. Or secondary/backup device for that matter.

Never had a problem with mine so far (Robin DR400 and R2160, both with perspex bubble canopies; no experience with PA28s or other metal-roofed aircraft). But anyway, even the 3G version, AFAIK, can be paired with a separate GPS if necessary.

Hmmmm ... spent 6 hours in Colorado last month in a 172 and my instructor had his iPad happily working all the time without any loss of signal.

I note "quite capable" but in practise how often does has it happened ?

Does anyone have any experience of running skydemon or similar on a smartphone? If so any suggestions for best hardware, software, GPS receivers etc?

After the last thread on GPS i rushed out and bought an Ipad, External £80 gps receiver and copy of Air NavPro and hate it.. It all seemed good but getting a signal on the receiver takes the piss! Rather just use my Airbox GPS as iv never had a problem anyway..

I have an Airbox Aware 5+ and it does what it says on the tin. Does everything I want, airspace warning and nav, plus it's just like looking at a half mil map ('cos it is a half mil map) so there's no confusion. Look at your map, look at the Airbox and they're exactly the same. I'm only a VFR bimbler, don't know what you would need for instrument approaches etc.

I'm sure the more expensive stuff has more bells and whistles but you have to look at whether you're going to use all the extras. I think mine was about £320.

Airbox Clarity GPS
 

After a lot of research I went for the Airbox Clarity. The airspace warning feature is worth the money alone. Planning software, complete with notams is a doddle, and as the map is the usual half mil, it's simples. Prints your plogs too. But like 'thing' I'm happy to buzz around VFR. It works.

That's true but that is nothing to do with the GPS :) It is what you get with an old fart of an instructor. A modern instructor will train you in the use of modern methods, to the maximum extent permitted. Same in the PPL syllabus; only 1 or 2 specific exercises in the whole PPL have to be non-GPS.

I have an Airbox Foresight installed on the instrument cluster and wish I had never bought it. Every time I synch it to the laptop, it crashes when I try to use it, yesterday it could not get a GPS signal whilst my 10 year old Garmin handheld worked faultlessly, you can't read it in bright sunlight and the touch screen is fiddly to use.

My IPAD2 with its built in GPS running AirNav Pro works every time, is easy to use, has never yet lost GPS lock and because it is on my knee strap can be clearly seen as the display is huge compared to anything else. I can also easily switch to uncluttered topo maps in flight if I want to. The ANP suppliers seem to provide excellent support and publish free upgrades almost weekly. Also passengers love to hold it and tell me which way to go!

I know which one I prefer.

Odd that, I've never had a prob with the 5+. Never not been able to read it and it's always picked up a signal straight away, plus I like it mounted in my line of sight as an extra 'instrument' if you like.

I wouldn't want to keep looking at my knee or a passengers knee (well depends if she was fit) to see what it was doing. I can keep it in my peripheral vision and still keep my eyes out of the cockpit.

I use Skydemon with my HTC HD2 smartphone, and have been very impressed with it.

Thanks for that Bob. Do you use the inbuilt GPS receiver or external with blue tooth? Any problem with signal dropouts? Perspex canopy or metal roof ? where do you locate the unit?
Does the phone work satisfactorily as a modem for a laptop?