At 11:08 PM 9/20/2006, George Henry wrote:
Gosh! How did we ever fly airplanes without crashing them, before satellite navigation?
Show me a commercial pilot who would rely solely on his GPS for navigation, and I'll show you a pilot who doesn't belong in the cockpit!
With all due respect George, that is an overly emotional and inane comment. I relied on GPS navigation solely on my trip back from the DCC in Tucson ... as well, I used my XM-Radio weather datalink to pick my way through the front created by Hurricane Helene. The VOR receiver would not have allowed me to do all that.
And once my Garmin 430 is updated for WAAS , I'll be able to do precision approaches with GPS.
ADFs are being decommissioned and I doubt you'll see any new ILS approaches being installed ...
No, I'm not a COMMERCIAL pilot, but I fly a lot, and there ARE a lot of commercial missions being flown with GPS alone (with probably 2 GPS receivers on board). AND, GPS improves situational awareness which DOES decrease crashes and other accidents.
73 Dave VE3GYQ/W8 Spencerville, OH