(Paul Tomblin) wrote in message ...
David Megginson and I were discussing the avionics the other day, and we
had a very strange thought.

We know that radios can be pulled out and swapped, usually with a single
screw. Would it be possible to buy a single approach certified GPS, like
a Garmin 530 or something, and put trays in multiple planes, so you could
get the installation certified in each plane, and share the GPS between
the planes?

Irrespective of the regulatory aspects - I'd say this is a bad idea
for the following reasons.

1. Mechanical stress from insertion cycles. I'm guessing the
connectors were not designed for 100s if not thousands of insertion
cycles. There is a good chance with that kind of use that the
connector will bend, break, or start to make intermittent contact.
Ditto for the screw that secures the 530 into the stack, over the
course of time, it would strip.

2. No matter how carefully the 530 is handled, eventually it will be
dropped.

-Nathan