A few days ago we began to test market a new product on an extremely limited basis. This was roughly one week before the planned official announcement to the public. Because of this, by its very nature the information was incomplete, which is why we listed a phone number and e-mail address to cover any questions.
Since we initially posted the page it has been updated several times and will continue to be updated. The main thing that is not on the webpage now is its use in actual flight. Unfortunately the weather has not been very good recently to get this footage shot. I do expect though that this footage will be completed and on the webpage later this week. We do currently have a screen shot, but it is in the Garmin simulation mode which does not really show the approach properly.
I would like to clarify a few things I read below:
1. You load our software on your laptop computer.
2. The software automatically logs online and stores all approaches as well as approach charts.
3. Next, you turn on and plug-in your data cable on your Garmin and select the approaches that you want sent to your Garmin.
4. Next hit the print button and you will have hard copies of all the approaches you selected.
5. While in flight, go into your routes and you will see there are routes with the name of the approach (STK23 GPS) and select the approach.
6. When you are flying the approach in map mode you will see every segment of your approach with the name and distance of the waypoint you are flying to, as well as your altitude. The only altitude we do not include is your minimum as it varies from one category of aircraft to the other.
7. We do not use geo-referenced plates, these approach plates are for printing only. There are two reasons we do not. The first is that the Garmin would be physically incapable of handling it file size wise. The second reason is actually much more important. Placing the approach on the main screen in track up is much more intuitive and easier to fly than having to fly North up during an approach. This is why any IFR certified GPS will show it to you on the screen the same way we display it. You can still put the approach in North up mode on your Garmin, however you will see it is more awkward.
In reference to the True Flight offering not being in the same league as the AFS system, it?s important to remember that this offering for the Garmin display is not the same as the Flight Cheetah display which does a lot more. We obviously did not have the luxury of designing the Garmin handhelds. If we had designed it, we would have made it much more upgradable with additional storage space to allow for inexpensive upgrades. Because the focus on the Garmin handhelds has always been to not have them upgradable so you need to buy a new one every couple years we have to deal with the limitations of the Garmin handheld design. Having said that we are still able to make a pretty significant improvement on its capabilities from an off-the-shelf Garmin. I?m not faulting Garmin by introducing products that cannot be upgraded. They have obviously made a lot of money off of this business model. I do strongly feel that you should be able to upgrade the capabilities of a display without having to buy new display every time, and if we can add an important approach capability on your 3-4 year-old Garmin all the better.
Till now Jeppesen has had a monopoly when it comes to database updates if you have a Garmin. This is the first product to compete directly with Jeppesen. Notice Jeppesen doesn?t even allow approach data on any handheld GPS. For that you need to buy a certified display and pay top dollar to keep your approach data current. If your certified GPS fails and you have an emergency, with this new product you can still easily fly the full IFR approach of the Garmin.
Happy Flying,
Rob Kalberer
True Flight
