Michael wrote:

Some people refer to IFR GPS as "flexible," meaning it can do many
different things. Some refer to is as "a frustrating piece of crap,"
because they find it so hard to make it do any one particular thing. I
find that the user interfaces on GPS units are very intuitive and
obvious - as long as you have a graduate degree in engineering and
several years experience working with computerized instrumentation.
Describing IFR GPS as flexible is a lot like saying a drowning victim
has moist skin. It's technically true, but you're not impressed.

x

Some folks with a lot of professional flying experience find some of
this stuff quite flexible and useful. Sure don't have to be an
engineer. But, it is sure equipment specific. I am proficient in the
use of the Garmin 530 but that took some time.

I wouldn't even attempt to use any other panel mount without a similar
amount of learning and practice. I also find using the 530 in a single
pilot environment without an autopilot to be a excessive knob twisting,
bad human-factors situation.