Atypicalguy

Yes there are lots of self appointed thread topicality and expiration date police out there in the Forum world, trying to badger people into conforming to their particular form of OCD. The idea has never appealed to me. Old threads are often the best. If you think I think you're being more pedantic and boring than you think I think I am, then yes we can agree on that. Sarcasm probably isn't worth much in the land of MS-coin, either. But don't let that hold you back :-) I chimed in to let people know that the item is undervalued. The idea that a thread is less relevant with time, or that people cannot somehow follow a conversation as it evolves, is quaint. Now that you can pick an Aera up for $500, instead of $900, the economics are better than ever. I can see how it might be difficult to think back a month, or to yesterday, but it might just be worth doing. It's why they have libraries and history majors and stuff. Having thus saved everyone on MS from ignoring old threads and old portable GPS equipment, I bid you all bon chance and adieu.

1. Much of the thread is people discussing how much they like their Aera 660. So my post is on topic. 2. I know the software update was fixed years ago. Current version is 3.81 or 3.83. Hence I did not mention it. 3. Where people fly their Mooneys is none of my business, but I imagine there are many in AK. I was shopping for a Bravo but was having too much fun in the 140 and needed more payload than a Mooney could offer, and more flexibility. So a 185 was the answer. Not quite as fast but hits all my other requirements nicely. Maybe a mooney will come later. 4. Speaking of nicely, in my judgment, the topic of people liking Aera 660s needs more attention. They sit out there in airplanes like all the other Garmin stuff, doing their job year after year. The people who have them seem not to post on internets about it. A 760 gives you the missed approach nav and track over the pdf, and internal ahars. But you can get a 660 for $500 used, it plays well with all garmin waas navigators, drives autopilots, puts frequencies into garmin radios, runs the XM channels, controls virb cameras, displays weather and terrain and traffic and adds a bigger display to legacy 430w stuff. As a box, for the dollar, underappreciated for sure. No overheating or random failures. Much brighter screen - an ipad screen is a joke compared to this thing in any bright light. It wont replace an ipad - until you are in the air, at which point the ipad goes away. Ipads are great for flight planning. Fly Safe, Kw

I think this thing does not get enough attention. What else can do all that for $700? Ipad, but not as bright or reliable and kind of more for planning whereas this thing is robust and plays well with gtx345 and gns430 and easy to operate in the plane. I have an old 495 in the stack and will likely remove it and add this or a 760 above the 430w. Then the 500 autopilot. It is a cessna 185. Thanks for the great forum. Cannot figure out why this particular item is not in every little taildragger on the dash or a windshield brace. My cfi flies in AK with a 660 and loves it.

This is actually what I was quoted just yesterday to trade up from a 335. The 335 is worth about 2k box only. The 345 is over 6k. Installation is about 2-3 hours - insignificant. 4k delta is a big cost for audio traffic callouts. But then on Tuesday I had the same issue on downwind with a departing aircraft described above, only did not see the traffic until he was just below me. That got me thinking 4k for an upgrade might be a bargain.