pierre smith

pierre smith

Well Known Member
After the post about losing an engine in IMC, I reset my 430's 'nearest' list to include hard/soft runways 2000' or longer and it did in fact show a soft airport during a cross-country last week.

Yesterday, a friend wanted to learn about GPS use, so we climbed in the -10 and fired up the 496. Showing him the 'nearest' function, he asked if it showed grass strips and it didn't. There's one near here so I got to thinking and pushed "menu" while the list of nearest airports were being shown and a choice was to check "Private" airports and I checked the box. Voila....4 additional airports on the first page and 3 more on the second....7 airports that wouldn't have been shown!

Since there are so many X96's out there, I didn't know if you guys knew this about them,

Best,
 
Nearest Airfield

Pierre,
Great point about the availability of information at your finger tips for the 96 series GPS.
Equally important is folks understanding their true glide ratio / sink rate (fpm) so that when you hit that nearest button you KNOW if you can even make that particular airfield.
On my map page I have the ?VA? (vertical angle) data up and running in the bottom left corner. I use the information in two ways; One to see my point of decent approaching to wake up my wife to complete the approach to landing checklist. Secondly to KNOW if when I hit that nearest button I can in fact make the field without the efforts of the fan in front of me.
Again, as been stated several times before on this wonderful webpage ? you need to know your plane and practice engine out scenarios. Both its capabilities and limitations.
Shep
 
Good one - wasnt aware of the Vertical Angle data display. Folks should also be aware that you can display glide slope on the flight parameters page. Adjust pitch until that number is maximized and you will be doing the best that is possible.

erich
 
Pierre,

I just found (stumbled upon) and checked the Private Airports box on mine on a X-C this weekend as well, thanks to the thread that was discussing that. Good stuff!

Jerry, interesting thought. I'll have to look for that VA data selection. I have the "VSI to target" displayed on another page (along with "Time to VNAV", for that top of descent heads-up), but using that or VA on the map page is a good thought. What does it show, and how do you use it (what value do you look for) to determine if you have glide capability to an airport. I assume (uh-oh) that you hit Go To (that airport), and then look for a specific value. Just wondering what is your yea/nay criterion for the glide distance (for incorporation into the tool bag).

Pretty powerful little tools these GPS's!! :)


Cheers,
Bob
 
The 696 has private airports as well, and I just noticed that the latest software update adds softkeys to the Nearest Airport page to let you quickly toggle on/off the display of private airports and heliports in the list.

mcb
 
Pierre,
Why 2000'? I would want any runway greater than 500' and deal with the extra clutter of going through one or two if a short one came up.
 
FWIW, the same options are available on the AERA, I just updated mine to remove water airports and add private strips. One closer airport popped up on the first screen than the options that were there before.

Thanks for the tip!

[edit] In playing with the Aera, I also decided to drop the Vertical Speed number from the lower left corner and replace it with Glide Ratio instead. The VSI in my panel is probably more accurate, and that way I won't have to go hunting for it in the menu while i'm trying to find a field to land in when the engine quits...
 
Last edited:
Personal limits, Todd....

TSwezey said:
Pierre,
Why 2000'? I would want any runway greater than 500' and deal with the extra clutter of going through one or two if a short one came up.
Click to expand...

....because 500' just doesn't cut it for me. Even tho' I've practised Hi Key engine outs, things would have to be so perfect to use 500' and be assured of a successful outcome,

Best,
 
i dont use .....

the feature to have the grass strips on my nearest list. it clogs up the list. instead i have them shown on the map so i know they are there as i fly along. you get the best of both worlds. turbo
 
Vertical Angle nit-pick

Jerry P. Sheppard said:
Pierre,
...
Equally important is folks understanding their true glide ratio / sink rate (fpm) so that when you hit that nearest button you KNOW if you can even make that particular airfield.
On my map page I have the ?VA? (vertical angle) data up and running in the bottom left corner. ... to KNOW if when I hit that nearest button I can in fact make the field without the efforts of the fan in front of me.
...
Shep
Click to expand...
Excellent point and very valuable advice. I just want to caution that the vertical angle shown by the GPS is based on real positions - yours and the airport's. However, the angle you can get from your airplane varies with the wind.
 
That is why I am thinking about upgrading to the 496. I read the story and just met Nick, the guy that wrote the story you guys are referring to. I currently use the 396 and it does not have private airports and in Texas, there are alot of them. Might be worth the $ to upgrade.
 
Kyle, are you sure?

Geeman said:
..... I currently use the 396 and it does not have private airports and in Texas, there are alot of them. Might be worth the $ to upgrade.
Click to expand...

Do you have the latest Jeppessen updates installed? Have you tried the 'nearest' button, press 'menu' and a box should show with a box to check for "Private".

Let us know,
 
pierre smith said:
Do you have the latest Jeppessen updates installed? Have you tried the 'nearest' button, press 'menu' and a box should show with a box to check for "Private".
Click to expand...

The 496, 696, and aera family have private airports for the US and western Europe, but the 396 and older products do not.

mcb
 
430 nearest menu?

Pierre
how is it that you "reset" your 430 nearest list to include soft runways? When I press the menu button on that page on my 430 (non-waas) it gives me. . . nothing, no menu. Have I got something different here?

thanks,
 
pierre smith said:
Do you have the latest Jeppessen updates installed? Have you tried the 'nearest' button, press 'menu' and a box should show with a box to check for "Private".

Let us know,
Click to expand...

Mine is a 396, and I'm purty sure that's the box I just checked last weekend. I'll zip out to the aerodrome and check to be sure tomorrow. I did update the database a couple months ago and the firmware a couple months before that...not if that would make a diff.

Will verify and let ya know.

Cheers,
Bob
 
Go to the "Aux" pages, Robert....

RobertD said:
Pierre
how is it that you "reset" your 430 nearest list to include soft runways? When I press the menu button on that page on my 430 (non-waas) it gives me. . . nothing, no menu. Have I got something different here?

thanks,
Click to expand...

.....then scroll to "Nearest airport criteria". My 430W then has the following options:

Any surface
Hard surfaces only
Hard/Soft surfaces (the one you need)
Water landings only

Best,
 
Nearest on 480

Does any one here know how to change the Nearest criteria on the Garmin 480? There are many airports that don't show up using on my 480 when I use the Nearest key.
 
396 Gouge

I checked my 396 today, and it does indeed have a selection for Private Airports. Here's the rundown on setting the nearest airport parameters in the 396. Some of it may be transferrable to other x96 units, and may provide clues to the other units mentioned above (I don't have a panel mount, so no promises...but if it helps, all the better).

- While in any screen with a 396, hit the NRST button.

- A tabbed list appears with airports, VORs, etc. On mine, the airport tab is first, and is the default tab.

- While on this Nearest page, hit the Menu button.

- A two item list pops up:

1. Show Bearing (which you can toggle to Show Arrows with the Enter button)
(gives you bearing to, or an arrow pointing to, the airports on the list)

2. Set Airport Criteria

- If you cycle down to and select (hit enter on) Set Airport Criteria, what pops up are two selectable value items, and two check/uncheck boxes.

The first list of values in for airport surface, selectable between:
Hard Only
Hard or Soft
Water Only
Any
(Same thing Pierre noted)

The next value box is for min runway length

Below that are two check boxes:
Include Private
Include Heliports

Very intuitive once you find it. Hope it helps others sleuth out where to find this!

Cheers,
Bob
 
A 430W caveat, though...

Yesterday, we made a trip north and I went to the 'nearest' page on the 430 and it didn't show grass/private strips, even tho' I had earlier changed that on the criteria. Maybe it's a CYA by Garnin. I'll call them on Monday,

Best,
 
I just got off the phone with the Garmin tech rep..

...and he told me that it was a Jeppessen issue, that they don't show private airports on the 430 and to contact them. He wasn't sure if it was a CYA or TSO issue, or both.

Considering the fact that some pretty heavy iron uses the 430's as well, I can see a G-2 not wanting grass strips shown, but the argument there is that they can de-select them.

I then asked if it was a different database than the 496's and he said yes.
Jeppessen is my next try, so for now, the 496 will be my 'nearest airport' source....more user-friendly anyhow:)


Best,
 
The "issue" is that Jeppesen simply doesn't have very many private airports in the data that they own. So any product that uses only Jeppesen data will only know about a very small number of private airports.

The 496, 696, and aera products use a combination of data from Jeppesen and also other sources, so they can display private airports for the US and western Europe. I assume that some other systems do this as well, but I'm not familiar with the details.

mcb
 
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