Looking at the picture of DR's panel posted on 11/17/10, on the top row of the display showing the engine information was a list of fields:
GS 130kt TRK 311 MSA 4200ft VSR ____
The question is what is Garmin telling me with the MSA 4200ft? I assume MSA means Minimum Safe Altitude (to clear terrain and obstacles). I looked the local Dallas Forth Worth sectional using SkyVector, and I see a big 32 a bit northwest of 52F indicating a safe altitude of 3200 MSL. Is the Garmin giving me an extra 1000 feet?
I also wonder how far away that highest point is from where I'm at right now or where I'm planning to fly. Is it telling me that there's some point within X distance of me that's no higher than the reported value? If so, what is the distance? Or perhaps it's telling me what the highest point is along my flight plan, so I know high high I need to climb before I start cruising.
For people living in flat parts of the country, they may not care much about MSA, but for people living in the west, it can matter. Where I live, there's a lot of flat terrain around 4500 feet, some low mountains under 8000 feet, and scattered peaks around 12,000. I normally do most of my flying at 8,500 MSL or less, flying around the terrain. I'd like to know if the Garmin MSA field is something I'll be able to use as I fly around the terrain, or is it always going to tell me to fly higher than 13,000 so I'll never bump into one of those scattered peaks.
GS 130kt TRK 311 MSA 4200ft VSR ____
The question is what is Garmin telling me with the MSA 4200ft? I assume MSA means Minimum Safe Altitude (to clear terrain and obstacles). I looked the local Dallas Forth Worth sectional using SkyVector, and I see a big 32 a bit northwest of 52F indicating a safe altitude of 3200 MSL. Is the Garmin giving me an extra 1000 feet?
I also wonder how far away that highest point is from where I'm at right now or where I'm planning to fly. Is it telling me that there's some point within X distance of me that's no higher than the reported value? If so, what is the distance? Or perhaps it's telling me what the highest point is along my flight plan, so I know high high I need to climb before I start cruising.
For people living in flat parts of the country, they may not care much about MSA, but for people living in the west, it can matter. Where I live, there's a lot of flat terrain around 4500 feet, some low mountains under 8000 feet, and scattered peaks around 12,000. I normally do most of my flying at 8,500 MSL or less, flying around the terrain. I'd like to know if the Garmin MSA field is something I'll be able to use as I fly around the terrain, or is it always going to tell me to fly higher than 13,000 so I'll never bump into one of those scattered peaks.
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