IFR certified Handheld GPS

[Archer]

I'm towards the end of my PPL training, and though I'm not considering using any GPS system until after my checkride, I am planning on investing on a good handheld after my checkride for backup navigation.

I'll be undergoing IR training not long after the checkride, so I thought IFR certification of the GPS would be very useful for GPS approaches.

The reason for the handheld is that most of the planes at my local FBO don't have a GPS, so I would need to bring onboard my own handheld GPS.

So might as well get an IFR certified GPS.

My question, do these exist in "handheld" form, or only "panel mounted" form...

GPSs like the Garmin 196 and 295 are VFR only...

thanx

Archer

 

[Illini Pilot]

not really sure...but you definately dont NEED a gps for IFR, and your instructor will probably "fail" it and take it off your hands and get you looking at the panel for most of your training anyways.

 

[bigD]

Archer, as far as I know, there aren't any IFR handhelds out there. Still, getting a handheld GPS is a good buy if you have the money. Even if you can't shoot approaches with it, it's very helpful in both VFR and IFR environments. Illini is right in that you're probably not going to be able to use a GPS for much of the IFR training anyway (just to do the approaches themselves most likely) - but it can still be of use. I used to turn mine on at the start of a lesson, throw it in the back, and then look at my track over the ground once I finish the flight. It's kind of neat to see what your holding patterns and terminal procedures look like once you're done. You can immediately see where you were sloppy, or didn't correct well for a cross wind, or whatever.

 

[Capn Lucky]

At this point in your training, a GPS should be for VFR flights only. I was told by a Garmin rep that a IFR handheld is not possible because the antenna installation is certified for approcah certified units. You need to be very carefull with a GPS because it will give you a false sense of security. A VOR/DME will give you enough information.

IMHO

 

[Chunk]

I'm finishing up my IR now and the PA44's I'm flying have dual Garmin 430's. 'Course, my CFI, to his credit, never allows me to use the map page or anything like that. Just use the nav page to give DME since the aircraft doesn't have a DME receiver. It's easy to get sucked into programming in flight plans and stuff like that. I think I'd just prefer a VOR/DME receiver, plain and simple. I use to drool over the pics of them in Flying magazine. I'm sure that I don't have the knowledge yet to make them fully work for me.

Oh, and there is no such thing as an IFR-approved handheld. In fact, handheld GPS's are not authorized to be used in the cockpit during IFR flight.

Chunk

 

[bigD]

In fact, handheld GPS's are not authorized to be used in the cockpit during IFR flight.

You sure about that?

 

[Chunk]

I'll have to pull out the FAR's Explained when I am awake, but I'm pretty sure it's considered a PED, therefore banned in the cockpit while IFR.

Chunk

 

[low&slow]

There is no specific requirement in the FAR's that a handheld GPS can't be used based on it being a PED. It is not listed, and therefor falls under the PIC making the determination that it won't cause interference. FAR-wise, it's perfrectly legal to use a handheld GPS (not primary nav source while under IFR).

The AIM goes on to say:

1. Authorization to conduct any GPS operation under IFR requires that:

(a) GPS navigation equipment used must be approved in accordance with the requirements specified in Technical Standard Order (TSO) C-129, or equivalent, and the installation must be done in accordance with Advisory Circular AC 20-138, Airworthiness Approval of Global Positioning System (GPS) Navigation Equipment for Use as a VFR and IFR Supplemental Navigation System, or Advisory Circular AC 20-130A, Airworthiness Approval of Navigation or Flight Management Systems Integrating Multiple Navigation Sensors, or equivalent. Equipment approved in accordance with TSO C-115a does not meet the requirements of TSO C-129. Visual flight rules (VFR) and hand-held GPS systems are not authorized for IFR navigation, instrument approaches, or as a principal instrument flight reference. During IFR operations they may be considered only an aid to situational awareness.

Using a handheld during IFR is both wise and legal. It can't legally be used to navigate as the principal intrument, but serves as a great situational tool (as the AIM says) and is your best option for a backup when the power goes out and the panel goes dark (in which case it would become my primary and only navigation source, despite the regs...).

 

[flywithastick]

In fact, handheld GPS's are not authorized to be used in the cockpit during IFR flight.

???

Here's a very well written article describing uses of a handheld GPS while IFR.

http://www.avweb.com/articles/pelperch/pelp0011.html

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

GPS

The installation itself of an IFR certified GPS has to be FAA approved. If you have a Garmin 430 for example and get a mechanic to put it in your airplane it still has to be tested and approved by the FAA with a letter of approval kept in the aircraft's POH. The FAA is very concerned that the installation is done correctly in order that the antenna is placed properly so that you don't lose the signal inside the final approach fix. Also there can be electromagnetic interference on your GPS caused by the other avionics in your aircraft and proper sheilding must be installed and tested to make sure it doesn't affect your GPS signal. The FAA doesn't want you doing approaches with your GPS (still a relatively new technology) without making sure the installation is done right.

Having said that, the GPS signal and accuracy from a handheld is just a good as from an IFR certified panel mounted GPS. Any handheld is 100 times more accurate than a stupid ADF anyway. But ADFs are old "proven" technology. The FAA is silly that way. The FAA knows that the signal from a handheld is just as accurate, but they want to make sure the signal is always reliable and that can't be proven till it's panel mounted and tested.

IFR certified GPSs also have to have RAIM, or Reciever Autonomous Integrity Monitoring. That means that the GPS has determined at that moment that it is getting an accurate enough signal to allow you to shoot an approach. A few times when I was practicing IFR approaches with my old flight school's C-172 the GPS wouldn't have RAIM and it wouldn't sequence allowing me to do an approach.

When I flew freight in a Cheiftain a few of them had panel mounted but VFR only GPSs. You can bet I used the GPS all the time, but never as my "primary navigation source". I would ask ATC for direct somewhere. He would see that I was field /A (VORs and DME only) and give me a heading. Then I would punch in the GPS for direct and it would tell me accurate groundspeed, heading, and time to arrival. The controller was my "legality" but the GPS added tons of situational awareness.

Even on the Canadair Regional Jets I fly that have GPS integrated into the FMS (Flight Management System) the FAA won't certify us to do GPS approaches. The technology is too "new" and all kinds of regulatory hurdles must be leaped first. IFR cerftified GPS approaches are on the way but that's what people said 5 years ago. The FAA is just slow at certifying new technology when it involves passengers. I do believe Alaska is certified for precision GPS approaches but that too is in it's infancy. SkyWest had nonprecision GPS approaches in to Sun Valley, Idaho but that required tons and tons of crew training and certification so they dropped it. It wasn't worth the hassle. I'm sure there are other carriers out there that are allowed provisionally to do GPS approaches but so far they are few due to the extensive certification and training required by the FAA.

Also, if your doing instrument training in an airplane with an IFR approaved GPS and then use that airplane for an instrument checkride, make sure you can use the GPS thoroughly. The PTS (Practical Test Standards) for the instrument rating or any checkride require the pilot to be familiar and be able to competently use all of the instruments onboard the airplane. An examiner may require a student to show proficiency on a panel mounted GPS, VFR or IFR certfied. So instructors that never allow their students to turn on the GPS are really doing their students a disservice not teaching them practical technology that will help them maintain situational awareness. I think it should be turned off for much of training but it does need to be a big part of training since it is the future.

 

[sanford&son]

1-1-~21?

the section in the aim on gps is very thorough. if you are an instructor, you should read this carefully, and explain/ have you students read it as well.

i cringe frequently, when around the fbo, i hear of some vfr rated yahoo's most recent exploits, and how he found his way through a tsrm to where ever he was going, and, when he couldn't see the airport, MADE UP his own inst app w/ his handy gps. ifr, vfr, hand held, panel mount, this is dangerous.

as an example, let us revisit the crash of one of Regionnair's 1900D's in aug. 1999, when the crew of this a/c flew it into the ground. at an airport with no gps app., the crew attempted a home grown gps approach, below minimums for any published approach @ the airport, in a period of degrade RAIM availability. The crew was navigating on a series of manually entered waypoints, with a gps (kln-90b) that in this mode, would only signal a RAIM alert if the signal degredation exceeded ~5nm, or if fewer than 5 sats were available. while numerous other factors were involved in this accident, the catalyst for the whole incedent was the crew's (then company sop) planned use of a fallacious approach.

i am throwing this out to you to say the following:
gps is good, "gps is the way of the future (as of a few years ago)," but just like anything else in aviation, improper use of a gps can kill you. that is why i feel it important that we (cfi's) impress the importance of proper gps use, its abilities, and its restrictions on any student, regardless of the level of rating they seek.

now, for archer, i agree with others here, that a gps is a great situational awareness aid. you should buy the best one you can afford, and learn all about it. additionally, have your instrument instructor teach you everything there is to know about the proper use of a gps in both vfr and ifr environments as you progress in you training. i often see other instructors skip over gps use (i suppose because it is just one more thing an examiner can bust your applicant for) and even go as far as making sure that they take check-rides in a non-gps (or adf for that matter) equipped airplane. our goal is not to be an aviation meat grinder, churning out check-ride passers. as cfi's, we owe it to our students, our community, and ourselves to make sure that we are producing airmen who are trained to the best of our ability, even if this means that we have to learn some new things ourselves along the way.

i'll get off of my soap box now.

-lamont

 

[Chunk]

To clarify....

My instructor certainly encourages use of the Garmin's features, but doesn't permit me to use the moving map during, say, an NDB approach. In fact, today I was chided for not entering our flt plan in all the way. I didn't need to, it was RV to a simple airway, but he wanted me to put it in so I was proficient at it.

We do GPS approaches as well as overlays.

Chunk