is the Icarus GPSS worth the extra cost?

rbridges · August 3, 2012

I have a Garmin 430 (non waas) and STEC 50 AP, but they're not coupled. I can get a basic GPSS installed for around $2800. I asked last year about it, and several people recommended the Icarus SAM unit. Is it worth the extra cost? I know it does a lot, but is the extra just "fluff?"

I plan to install it in the fall, hopefully after my instrument training is completed.

Bennett · August 3, 2012

I have the Icarus SAM unit between a Garmin GTN 750 and a KAP 150 autopilot. Does an amazing job of "anticipating" turns at flight plan waypoints, and tracks perfectly. That said, I really don't find a great deal of use for many of the other Icarus SAM features. I simply toggle the unit on and off when I want GPSS tracking in the autopilot heading mode, or where following a complex flight plan. I would have it installed again, as it is a useful tool. My main gripe is that the LCD screen is hard to read in sunlight, but if you use it as I do, there is no problem in just pressing the upper button. The unit announces (very clearly)when it is engaged, or disengaged. It is not that the other features aren't useful, but they are a bit of a pain to set up in daylight - no problem at night, but I still seldom bother with anything other than "on and off".

**jlunseth** · August 3, 2012

I had mine set upt to do all the alerts the unit is capable of, at the time it was installed, and I almost never turn them off. I think the basic functionality of a GPSS, which would be to toggle between HDG and GPSS mode, and to send a digital-to-analog signal translation to the AP, is available in most GPSS's. I don't have alot of experience with others, but all the manuals etc. that I have read say they do this.

The "extra features" of the Icarus are the alerts. I have it on my checklist to set them up before taxi. There are just three items the Icarus needs: barometric pressure, altitdude of you destination airport, and your target altitude to climb to. There is one other alert that you set on an "as needed" basis, and that is a DA for an approach.

With this information, the Icarus will give you many very useful things for single pilot ops. It alerts you when you are closing in on your target altitude, and once you have reached your target, it alerts you when you deviate from it. This is great for flying around a Bravo airspace where you may have a ceiling you can't bust, and also very good for IFR flights, so you do not bust altitude because of something else you need to attend to in the plane. I have about 500 hours of IFR with the Icarus, and have only busted altitude once, and that was because of confusing instructions from a controller that led me to believe I was assigned a different altitude (two aircraft with the same last three digits - 1SP, I filed a NASA report).

It also helps prevent gear-ups. It uses the destination airport altitude to determine when you are low enough that the gear should have been deployed, and will either give you a "GUMPS" or a "Gear! Gear!" annunciation, your choice. In addition, it gives an audible stall warning - "Stall! Stall!" and the good thing about it, is that it is heard in the headsets. So if you have high quality noise cancelling headsets that don't admit much outside noise, like a gear horn going off, you will still get the stall alert.

There are other features, such as that at a waypoint, the next waypoint is displayed, and the unit also displays UTC time. Your GPS will have ETE to the next waypoint, so if you need to make a report (which is very rare nowdays), all the necessary info. is readily available.

I suppose many pilots would think that a unit that is giving off alerts frequently would become a nuisance. However, when single pilot ops get hectic, it is invaluable. If the alerts are giving you a headache, you can switch them off with a toggle. I don't do that very much though, because they are there to protect me.

Piloto · August 3, 2012

$2800 can buy you stuff that will really enhance the safety of flight (EGT analyzer, XM\WX, Traffic, etc.) or enhance your plane performance (fine wire plugs, fairings, etc., Skytec Starter) or esthetics (interiors, windows, paint, etc). I can easily change course myself with just a twist of the HDG, CRS knob or just the plain yoke. $2,800 can also buy you 450 gallons of AVGAS or 50 hours of flight time. For me a GPSS would have been useless most of the time since most of my course changes are due to weather rather than over a waypoint