Quote:
Originally Posted by alpinelakespilot2000
As far as the lower resolution, I had it on a long trip just a couple weeks ago and found it more than adequate. (I usually turn the terrain feature off, because I can just look out the window to see terrain. It just clutters up the screen during VFR flying.)
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AH, but then you never know.....
During the winter months, about three years ago; there was a Cessna 310 pilot flying parallel
to our north/south mountain range east of Salt Lake City. He had been fighting strong headwinds on a long cross country, and decided to re-fuel.
As he started his descent, he failed to notice a shorter east/west mountain (Point of the Mountain) because of broken clouds and haze.
Before he knew it, he was facing rising terrain directly in front of him; and was able to instantly push throttles full forward and haul back on the yoke, as it was his "only" survivable option.
The twin engine plane stalled at nearly the same angle as the rising terrain, just before contact. It then cartwheeled, but stayed mostly in one piece.
Luckily, both the pilot and his passenger survived, with little injury. I could see this plane from my house for several days until it was removed.
In this case, due to not flying in the clearest of VFR conditions, the terrain just gradually rose, without him defining the difference between it and the partial cloud/haze cover.
Terrain warning on the GPS would have made the difference!
We've also had several more "VFR" flight into terrain accidents around here; with one being just a month ago. Two planes flew into the same mountain range (about six years apart). One at night, and one with low visibility during daylight hours. Both aircraft had flight instructors on board. The night accident had GPS, but not a detailed map or terrain warning. I don't know about the recent accident, but it was an older Beechcraft.
However, in a re-creation of the night accident, I took along a Garmin GPS with terrain warning. It went to yellow, and then red, just as it should have!
And while I'm at it, just a few years back, a non-area pilot took off from the airport next door, in an attempt to "scud run" to clear VFR conditions that he could see in the distance. Unfortunately for him, he followed a road that split off the freeway into a dead end canyon to the east. He apparantly made several 360's before slamming into a vertical granite wall.
This is another case, where it was technically VFR, but a moving map & terrain features, would have made a big difference!
As to my Garmin, the terrain is just a lighter colored background and it doesn't bother me at all. Looks kind of "neat", actually. Once rising terrain is within specified altitude settings, that you set, another window will appear on whichever page you're using, to show imminent disaster ahead!
While none of these accidents happend in clear VFR "daylight" weather, and all took place in mountainous areas; I'm just pointing out the benefits of terrain mapping/warning in what was thought to be VFR conditions.
L.Adamson -- Garmin 296
Lowrance Are You Listening?
, you can have the terrain off and still have terrain warnings. Given the larger screen on the Lowrance, you can turn off the terrain on the main screen to get rid of unnecessary clutter and still have the screen show you a vertical profile of any obstacles or controlled airspace in front of you and give you warnings as you are approaching them. It will also give you a vertical track line showing whether or not you will clear the terrain at your present rate of climb. Thus, the only time I turn the full screen (topographical) terrain feature on is when flying at night. 
Linear Mode
