Jump to content

60c In The Plane..nice


Recommended Posts

Yeah, it's a blast taking them on airplanes. Next time, try to keep the track log recording while flying so that you can download it on the computer later and see exactly where the plane flew. I did that once with my GPS V and it even noted the descents and climbs the plane took at certain stages of the flight.

 

<_<

Link to comment
I did that once with my GPS V and it even noted the descents and climbs the plane took at certain stages of the flight.

Hmmm...

 

"Excuse me, cabin attendant-person, why have we lost 15,000 feet in altitude and turned through 120 degrees in the last 30 minutes ?"

 

"Oh, that's quite routine sir..." <_<

Link to comment

jotne, Yeah I bought the 60CS knowing this in advance...but I still am hoping maybe...maybe...Garmin will give us the option to turn the Barometer off and use the data from the satellites...

Fingers crossed....(but not holding my breath)

Link to comment

I got the 60C, because I already have a 76S, and that is a good GPS out in open air. My 60C would be good in a plane, because of it's color display.

 

I have a Tracklog of a whole flight last year, using a GPS V. I used a 6 foot cable with a suction cup on the end of it, I took the stick antenna off the GPS V, and put that on the suction cup end of the cable. I kept the GPS buried deep in the Carry-on bag, when below 10,000 feet. Some lost of signal using the 6 foot extender cable, but it got a good tracklog.

Link to comment

What is also cool, is to get the arrival and departure routes from AirNav.com and then get the locations of the beacons from lostoutdoors.com. You can then enter those coordinates in the 60c and watch the flight path in the map. On United you can usually listen to air traffic control and know which approach or departure path you will be using. You can then select the navaid next on your routing. You can also then set up ETA for your final destination or any intemediate waypoints.

 

I was on a flight recently, sitting in a window seat, and had the 60c in my shirt pocket and maintained a lock for most of the flight. I had to put elevation in one of the larger data fields to be able to see the whole number, but those are so easy to switch around.

Link to comment

I guess you haven't read the airline disclaimers or listened to the flight attendants pre-flight requests. All the commercial flights I have been on request you turn off all electronic devices and devices with receivers are to stay off the entire flight. I had several flights recently that even singled out GPS devices. The airline pages also lists GPS as a device to leave off during flight.

Link to comment
I guess you haven't read the airline disclaimers or listened to the flight attendants pre-flight requests. All the commercial flights I have been on request you turn off all electronic devices and devices with receivers are to stay off the entire flight. I had several flights recently that even singled out GPS devices. The airline pages also lists GPS as a device to leave off during flight.

My experience has been that some airlines allow gps units in flight and some do not. Turning off all electronic devices, including laptop computers, usually only applies to take-off and landing. I have been asked to turn mine off before during a flight, and other times I have asked and been told that it was okay. Last time I flew I asked the pilot before the flight if it was okay and he said no problem.

Link to comment
I guess you haven't read the airline disclaimers or listened to the flight attendants pre-flight requests.  All the commercial flights I have been on request you turn off all electronic devices and devices with receivers are to stay off the entire flight.  I had several flights recently that even singled out GPS devices.  The airline pages also lists GPS as a device to leave off during flight.

The usual statement that I have heard a few times is to turn them off until 10 minutes after take off. I flew a couple of times on Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia and in both cases they said until the plane reaches cruising altitude. There is a link someplace in one of the threads on using a GPSr on airplanes that lists the airlines that allow GPSr use and those that specifically say no. Maybe someone could markwell that link.

 

I found the link. Markwell

Edited by WeightMan
Link to comment

I like South West Airlines the best, since they have not had any fatal crashes, falling out of the sky. The Airlines that restrict GPS, or don't allow it's use, have in many cases had a few fatal crashes, Like North West Airlines, American Airlines, and even United Airlines, and others.

 

It was South West Airlines where i had used the GPS V in a carryon bag, and used only the passive stick antenna extended via a cable.

 

It would not be good to use the Backlight on the GPS, because it generates alot of RF radiation, also do not use an amplified antenna on the gps. Game Boys can be bad on the plane, with all the noise those can generate.

 

There are cases where there can be alot of RF radiation coming from the Ground, also any crazy person could aim a focused noisey antenna at a plane from the ground.

 

I have been flying for many years, and I always liked the window seat even before the days that i had a gps.

Link to comment
I like South West Airlines the best, since they have not had any fatal crashes, falling out of the sky.

 

[snip]

 

It would not be good to use the Backlight on the GPS, because it generates alot of RF radiation, also do not use an amplified antenna on the gps. Game Boys can be bad on the plane, with all the noise those can generate.

 

[snip]

FWIW, one benefit that Southwest has had is that it started with an all new, all identical fleet. Now that the fleet is getting older, they are starting to see increased maintanence costs and failures.

 

Also, having seen a Southwest flight crash through a barrier and into the street in Burbank, I figure that it is just a matter of time until they have their own 'event'.

 

As for consumer appliances, the FAA basically forbids everything but pace makers and such, but then leaves the door open by allowing devices that the PIC (pilot in command) deems safe. Part 135 operators have additional restrictions, but it all pretty much boils down to airline operations policy.

 

If everything is working correctly, both on the avionics side and on the consumer side, anything with an FCC sticker should not be a problem. But, most pilots with Bose active noise cancellation headsets can tell you seconds in advance when your cell phone is about to ring, and there have been incidents where flight crews reported erratic nav indications which subsided when passenger devices were turned off, so no devices on TO and L has become the norm.

 

A portable GPSr has perhaps had the most inflight testing, since huge numbers of private and corporate pilots routinely run them, hanging on the yoke next to the nav stack, every day. Electroluminecent displays do generate a fair amount of EMI, but are generally not prescribed from cockpit use, so I wouldn't lose sleep over your backlight.

 

The inability to disable the baro. sensor in Garmin units is a pain. It's nice as a backup altimeter in small piston singles and twins, but useless in a pressurized cabin.

 

-jjf

Link to comment

I used my Legend on the plane when I went to CA in February. The flight attendants all said it was okay. I was on Frontier Airlines. One attendant sat down next to me and had me show her how the GPS worked. She thought it was really cool. I told her about geocaching and she said she was going to go get a GPS because it was so neat and geocaching sounded like a lot of fun.

 

I must admit it was pretty cool to see the altitude and MPH go so high. :lol:

Link to comment

Ok, I seem to remember that there was a way to 'tell' your 60cs to use GPS altitude, and not the barometric. In fact, from the satelite page of my unit, I can select menu and there is an option on the bottom of the menu that lists GPS altitude. I don't know if that changes the the source for the info for the whole unit or just gives you the reading then. But it will tell you.

 

Darren

Link to comment
You are able to see the GPS altitude on a 60CS 76CS and 76S, but you can not log it. This GPS logs the barometric pressure.

Thanks for clarifying that for me, guys. Now, it's starting to make sense. I remember seeing "Altitude" in my downloaded Active Log, so I presume you really meant that my 76CS, for example, would log "the altitude indicated by barometric pressure". Too many functions; I've never even checked to see if the 'GPS altitude' works on mine.

Link to comment

Alot of times they just file GPS direct so looking for the navaids is pretty pointless, except on the approaches and unless you have the approach plates for the certain runway you are landing at, again it will look boring, since 99 percent of times they just get radar vectors to the final approach course and fly the localizer or the full ILS depending on the pilots mood. Now some of the approaches we flew at pensacola were arcing approaches where you arced at a certain DME from the tacan station to intertcept the final approach course, those would be pretty cool to look at.

Edited by wickedsprint
Link to comment
Alot of times they just file GPS direct so looking for the navaids is pretty pointless, except on the approaches and unless you have the approach plates for the certain runway you are landing at, again it will look boring, since 99 percent of times they just get radar vectors to the final approach course and fly the localizer or the full ILS depending on the pilots mood. Now some of the approaches we flew at pensacola were arcing approaches where you arced at a certain DME from the tacan station to intertcept the final approach course, those would be pretty cool to look at.

FWIW, while private pilots and bizjets routinely receive GPS direct clearances, until last week, airliners did not. For various reasons, the airliners still primarily fly on the high altitude enroute structure (which uses ground based navaids). Now the FAA has approved a grid of waypoints that can be used for RNAV type navigation at the highest flight levels.

 

Presumably, over time, the same flexibility will be offered at lower flight levels. Like the new extended flight operations rules for twin jets over water, I am not entirely sure that the FAA is putting safety first. The push has been for issuing direct clearances, but that is not the way the IFR system is designed, and it really hasn't been restructured.

 

If someone is interested in looking at approach plates for a particular airport, you can view many of them at www.airnav.com. But, as you pointed out, in a radar environment, most arriving aircraft receive vectors to final. What might be more interesting are the STARs, or standard arrival procedures. The first few fixes of these are almost always flown as published.

 

-jjf

Link to comment

Oh my gosh I hate using the stars, I did not know airlines had to use the jetways. I still have some of my high charts laying around somewhere. Stars are almost as much of a pain as SIDs. We could sometimes get away saying we were military aircraft and "unable to comply due to equipment" and just get vectors to final like a bunch of losers :)

Link to comment
I saw all of the postings on the 60C and was hoping someone could clarify something for me. I have MetroGuide USA 4.01 and was wondering if the 60c would work with this software or not. I have seen conflicting reports on the internet concerning this.

From what I have read MetroGuide 4 and MetroGuide USA will auto-route within the GPS on the 60c but are not directly supported by Garmin.

Link to comment
Oh my gosh I hate using the stars, I did not know airlines had to use the jetways. I still have some of my high charts laying around somewhere. Stars are almost as much of a pain as SIDs. We could sometimes get away saying we were military aircraft and "unable to comply due to equipment" and just get vectors to final like a bunch of losers ;)

FWIW, you can generally reject STARs and DPs (SIDs) - supposedly even putting "NO STAR, NO DP" in the remarks of your flight plan. But in practice this either means that you will have it read to you as a full clearance or, in a busy airspace like Los Angeles, find yourself holding at Filmore or Palmdale waiting for SoCal Approach control to accept the handoff from Joshua Approach or LA Center.

 

Approach Controllers who are used to dealing with military traffic, like Joshua which sees China Lake, Palmdale, Victorville, Mojave and a couple of small strips that no one talks about, are often a lot more forgiving and cooperative. It's been years, but I recall the same being true in parts of Florida.

 

The Jet airways thing is partly procedural, and partly old computers. The airlines do their own routing and filing, as well as receive quasi-real time ATC tracking information via an amazingly complicated infrastructure put together by the VOLPE center and private contractors. Unlike DUATS, which I think has been a relatively successful private/public collaboration, CTAS and the related systems is pretty much what you would expect when private competitors, public agencies, and academics design something by committee... ;-)

 

-jjf

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...