G Farris wrote:
: We consider the old KNS-80 style RNAV boxes to be obsolete today - but in
: a way they were more forward-looking than the way we're going about GPS
: today.

I happen to really like my KNS-80. Although my panel-mount GPS/COM is VFR
only, it's what I generally use to point myself in the right direction. Unlike what I
suspect to be many pilots, I still follow along with the other equipment enroute.
Even if I had an IFR-certified GPS, I wouldn't be comfortable flying without a finger
on the chart, a VOR dialed in, and a DME blinking numbers at me.

I think many pilots have gotten lazy and want to have their Garmin 295 in
their lap coupled to the autopilot so they can punch D- and take a nap while the
plane takes them where they want to go. That's the "new-fashioned" thinking causing a
lot of this mentality. Same with all the glass cockpit hubub... yeah, it's sexy and
modern and will practically shine your shoes while it flies you to your destination.
Will it keep your 172 from dropping out of the sky as an icy plane-cicle or getting
the wings torn off in a CB? No... laziness and complacency aren't a good thing to
encourage in GA. It's a pedantic argument of "primary means of navigation."

-Cory

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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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