Agreed.
Some thoughts would be appreciated on a minimum non-GPS IFR system for primary or backup. This GPS blackout will not be the last one.
Ron
The simplest solution is a handheld like the YEASU FTA 550, maybe with an external antenna installed, and if you need it, plug it into a stowed cable end. This would be for true emergency use, not a general secondary use.
I am in the GPS-only for day-to-day usage camp. Yes, the satellites can be destroyed, damaged, or fail. That won't stop me from keeping the airplane right side up and flying straight ahead until I see an opening in the clouds.
I also think that if you start playing the "what if that fails, I have this backup, and that fails I have this thing over here". You end up carrying your entire tool box with you for every eventuality. In a Carrington type event, it's very likely your entire electronic panel will be burned out along with the satellites and the power grid. Then what?
We've had the GPS-only vs ILS vs dual alternator etc etc debate in other places, and I am not trying to have that one again here (as much as I enjoy a good debate
). We all have different risks levels we are willing to accept. I also think we are rather unimaginative about how ALL of the nav systems we depend on could fail us, from space to inside the airplane to down on the ground. IMC flying just carries additional risk all the way around, you just have to choose a place on the risk spectrum that allows you to sleep at night