Garmin Automotive GPS

[Jonathan Sorger]

Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question
- I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is
that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is idea, but would a streetpilot be
of any use?

Thanks,

[Peter]

Jonathan Sorger wrote:

> Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about
> GPS.
>
> I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question
> - I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...
>
> Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
> use for one of these in a plane?

Even without any aviation-specific maps it can certainly still be
useful. It'll tell you your position (both lat/long/UTM and on
a road map), your current ground speed and track, ETA to a destination,
etc. And you can load in up to 500 waypoints of aviation-related
locations like airports, VORs, etc. so it can immediately give you
the distance and bearing from your current location. Handy to be
able to push a button and get a list of all the closest airfields.

> The 'official word' from Garmin is
> that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
> sure someone has tried...

Yes, you can create custom maps for Garmin GPS units, and those can
include aviation data as easily as any other type of map data. But the
maps need to be in vector form and require considerable effort to
create. http://gps.chrisb.org/en/main.htm is a good place to start for
the software to do this and information on the process. If it's just
for your own use I expect it'll be more cost-effective to put an
equivalent amount of effort into any paying job and buy an aviation
GPS with the money earned.

[Cub Driver]

On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 14:31:31 -0700, Jonathan Sorger
> wrote:

>Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
>use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is
>that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
>sure someone has tried...

Yes, of course it would be useful. I can't imagine navigating without
a GPS for backup, and unless the Street Pilot is too loaded with
helpful features you should be able to adapt it to your purpose.

I use a Garmin III Plus. I downloaded aviation waypoints for it.
Details at www.pipercubforum.com/garmin.htm

A curious thing about my III Plus: it doesn't show the Atlantic
shoreline. You know where it is, because the towns and roads are
there, but there's no waterline! Since my home airport is just a
couple miles inland, this is pretty obvious.

I often wonder what a sailor would think who bought the thang for
coastwise navigating.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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