On 12/6/2005 15:25, wrote:

I have a VFR only 172 and I am considering IFR training.

I am looking for the most practical way to make my plane IFR certified
and useful.

At first glance, it appears to me that the Garmin 430 provides a LOT of
useful information for relatively not much money.

I have 2 questions though....

to use the glideslope / VOR / LOC functions of the 430, do I have to
have a glide slope indicator and VOR indicator or are these bits of
information displayed on hte 430 unit?


The 430 does not have a glide slope. It is not certified for use in
precision approaches. It does have a page that will show you the CDI
for tracking VOR and Localizers, etc.

Is this one piece of equipment enough to enable my 172 to be instrument
certified?

Well, here you have to be careful. There are some who will argue that
you can legally fly IFR with nothing more than a hand-held GPS unit.

You can review FAR 91.205 for required equipment and instruments, and
specifically sub-section (d), which covers IFR.

The Garmin GNS 430 is a TSO C-129 certified unit, so although it can
be used as the sole means of IFR navigation, you must have an alternate
means of navigation on board and functional (there's a lot more to this,
but this is the jist of it).

There is a section in the AIM that talks about the use of a GPS system
in lieu of other navigation equipment, and when it is allowed. You should
check that out as well.

Basically, if you don't have a glide slope receiver, you won't be able
to fly any precision approaches. If you don't have an ADF, you won't
be able to fly any NDB approaches (not that there are that many left).

Let me know if you have any more questions, and watch out: there are
going to be a lot of opinions on this one (just look at the other
GPS threads over the last couple of months or so...).



I realize that I will be needing backup instruments to reliably fly in
IMC, that will come with time...what I need now is training and learned
proficiency.

Simulators can help with some types of proficiency. Let me know if you
want to talk about that.


Thanks,

Jamie A. Landers
PP-ASEL



--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Sacramento, CA