FAST FLIGHT OPTIONS LLC Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Quote: fantom No GPS...you might have to rely on VOR, DME, ADF, or map reading. Pilots do Don't leave home without it Quote
danb35 Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Quote: allsmiles With G it's a matter of IF it fails. I'm afraid with Aspen it's a matter of WHEN it fails. Quote
PTK Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Posted July 21, 2011 As per usual Fantom you grab an extreme and run it to further extremes with no looking back !! You are a master at it too !! How do you do that ? What apparently you don't understand is that I choose to take more of a methodical approach to my flying. I'm not looking to sit there and do nothing. I'm looking to transfer some gruntwork tasks to my nav/ap systems. Tasks like alt hold and following a course line for example. They are dedicated 100% of the time on these tasks and as a result do a better job at it than I could. I prefer to concentrate my attention to higher level tasks such as procedures, navigation and systems cross-checking. Isn't this the whole essence of safety through a higher level of situational awareness that we all seem to talk about ? Or is this also "unnecessary" !! Quote
PTK Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Posted July 21, 2011 Quote: danb35 Perhaps I overestimated you. You certainly should know that a collection of anecdotes do not equal actual data about in-service reliability, but you don't give any indication of actually understanding that very fundamental principle. You instead have heard a handful of stories about "infant mortality" failures of Aspen units, and have managed to convince yourself as a result that anybody flying behind one is bound to end up UWOF in very short order. Everything fails, and the more complex it is, the more failure-prone it is. If you keep them in the plane long enough, every one of your Garmin boxes will fail--I guarantee it. Whether the likelihood of that failure is higher or lower than than the likelihood of a similar Aspen failure is a legitimate question, but you've already reached your decision in the complete absence of any data either way. "Often wrong, never in doubt." Quote
Hank Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Wheeee!!! Can we all quit trying to p!ss in each other's cereal, and talk about Garmin's new box? My big question is pricing. If it ain't a whole lot cheaper than Aspen's, then neither will be in my panel for a while. Meanwhile, my 430W and I will keep going where we go, backed up on VOR #2 to find myself on the highlighted line on my paper sectional. The current unavailability of high-speed internet is keeping me paper, and no thank you, Light Squared, I'd rather have the pink line. That box gives so much more information than just where I happen to be right now, which I keep up with pretty well when I can see the ground without even using the other Nav unit. But then again, having learned to fly just 4 years ago, I must be too old-school. Why, I even reset my DG to the wet-compass more often than I switch tanks . . . sometimes that even takes out a chunk of my "crosswind correction" heading adjustment. Are there any new whiz-bang gizmos to get weather without going the 496/Aera route? Most other devices require wires for power and/or GPS antenna plus ANOTHER BOX with MORE wires to get the weather, and try to do everything the 430 does, too. All I want is weather, and a backup panel in case everything goes away in the soup. Quote
fantom Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Hank, your cereal doesn't sound very palatable. If all you need is a back up and WX, check out an Aera 510 for well under a grand. There is even an additional Airventure discount, from Sporty's I think, on-line. It's a very good touch screen GPS, has an internal battery, your 430W can cross feed it your flight plan, can be very cleanly hard wire mounted, on either yoke with a single power/antenna cord through the yoke column and under the glareshield. Works well for me. You purchase may help keep GRMN's stock price up for 'smiles. Quote
Magnum Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 My 2 cents for Garmin versus Aspen reliability. Since I installed the Aspen I realize how often my Garmin 430W fails, as it announces "GPS failure" in front of my nose. Looses satellites every 2-3 hours for a couple of seconds. Usually not a very big deal, as it reaquires within 10-20 seconds, but no joy if you fly a GPS approach to minimums (at least for me, my IR is still wet). My avionics shop told me that Garmin had a whole batch of defective antennas, if it fails it even blocks the reception of another GPS. The Aspen had no problems so far. So it is not always black and white, more like shades of gray. Quote
John Pleisse Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Quote: allsmiles I certainly hope you are right. I have no reason not to believe you. The problem with statistics is that they only apply to a population and not to the individual. I would hate to be flying behind that one that fails ! It's like the poor fellow drowning in the stream whose average depth was 2 feet !! Quote
M016576 Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Quote: fantom Hank, your cereal doesn't sound very palatable. If all you need is a back up and WX, check out an Aera 510 for well under a grand. There is even an additional Airventure discount, from Sporty's I think, on-line. It's a very good touch screen GPS, has an internal battery, your 430W can cross feed it your flight plan, can be very cleanly hard wire mounted, on either yoke with a single power/antenna cord through the yoke column and under the glareshield. Works well for me. You purchase may help keep GRMN's stock price up for 'smiles. Quote
KSMooniac Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 I hope both of these companies move into the retrofit autopilot very soon. Our market is sorely lacking in suitable products and competition... Quote
fantom Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 I believe the install of a hard wire mount takes no more than an hour. If you want a very solid and flexible mount, ditch the Garmin crap (I love saying that) and get a top of the line RAM http://www.ram-mount.com/Products/AviationMounts/tabid/108/Default.aspx Good luck! Quote
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