Waypoints

The clearance from Washington Center seemed simple enough: "...cross 10 miles south of Brooke VOR at 13,000." I keyed the mike and acknowledged the clearance while reaching up on the glareshield for the Garmin 90 GPS receiver I had been tinkering with on the 3.5-hour flight back from the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida.

Meanwhile, the pilot in the left seat began twisting knobs and pushing buttons on the panel-mounted nav management system just installed in the twin turboprop at 30 times the cost of the Garmin. The race was on.

A dozen key strokes or so later, I had a vertical nav problem solution that told us at what point we needed to start down from FL230 to meet the crossing restriction. About that time, the pilot in the left seat realized he couldn't solve such a problem on his system, its five-figure price tag notwithstanding. The $800 Garmin, which is about the size of a couple of packs of cigarettes placed end to end, handled the task with aplomb.

The multi-sensor nav system does remarkable things and uses GPS data itself to aid in determining position. Nonetheless, the scenario showed just how far handheld GPS receivers have come in just the last couple of years.

In the previous few days at Sun 'n Fun, we had been immersed in the latest and greatest of general aviation. Manufacturers of every sort of aviation paraphernalia hawked their wares to hundreds of thousands of potential buyers at the week-long show. Topping the list of what's new was most definitely GPS.

GPS has been in the GA limelight for the last four or five years, and I sometimes begin to think that maybe it has run its course. Perhaps the technology has finally settled down and we can begin to get comfortable with it. But about then, the manufacturers come out with a whole new line of products or some new twist on existing units that once again sparks another round of buying.

For pilots shopping for the equipment, it's an exciting yet frustrating time — about like trying to decide when to buy a new personal computer. Buy today, and you can be sure that next year (or even next month) your XYZ 486 Newton Mind Meld model will be as out of date as whitewall tires. Wait for the "right" time to buy, though, and you'll still be plucking away on the old manual Royal typewriter and using a slide rule when whitewalls come back in style again.

Pilots who purchased handheld GPS receivers three or four years ago were pleased to have their position displayed relative to some airport or navaid. An electronic CDI and groundspeed readout made flying almost sinfully easy. What else could there be?

Well, moving maps, for one. Soon, virtually every manufacturer had introduced a handheld moving map version. The next refinement came to the databases, allowing the maps to depict all sorts of special-use airspace, along with Class B and C areas. Those units have been the hallmark of the last year or so until, with the arrival of spring, came a host of new units.

Garmin went small with the GPS 90, which debuted at Sun 'n Fun. As you'll read in an upcoming review in "Pilot Products," the GPS 90 packs incredible capability into a very small package. The display is small, but the moving map is still quite readable. The user interface is terrific. You won't need the manual.

II Morrow's latest feature is an approach monitor for its Apollo 920+. Select the runway you want, and the 920+ will depict the various fixes associated with the overlay approach, a great aid when shooting a VOR or NDB approach or when using a certified panel-mount GPS for the approach. Please don't feed the attorneys, though, by attempting to use the 920+ to actually fly the approach. That requires a certified receiver and approved installation.

Magellan Systems showed its new EC-10X large-screen moving map. The system displays position on a large, high-resolution screen that easily straps to a leg. The detailed database contains almost all the detail of a VFR terminal area chart. If you prefer the more traditional handheld receiver (if there is such a thing), the Magellan SkyBlazer now comes with communication and sectorized approach frequencies in its database.

One of the most talked about new products at the show was AlliedSignal's new Bendix/King KLX 100 handheld GPS/com. Only a little larger than a traditional handheld transceiver, the KLX 100 features a moving map driven by an internal GPS receiver and a complete 760-channel transceiver — just the sort of thing to frustrate those of us who own a now "old" handheld transceiver with built-in VOR receiver. One of the niftiest features (and one you hope you'll never need): Push two buttons simultaneously, and the unit calls in the cavalry. An electronic voice transmits your N number and exact GPS-derived coordinates over the emergency frequency of 121.5 MHz.

AlliedSignal didn't confine its new products to the handheld market, though. It also introduced the KLN 35 panel-mount GPS receiver and the KLX 135A panel-mount GPS/com. The 135A is an improved version of the KLX 135 introduced last year. The improvements come in the form of a more readable LCD screen and much more sophisticated moving map software.

The KLN 35 GPS receiver offers virtually the same features as the GPS side of the KLX 135A, but without the transceiver. The two products further expand AlliedSignal's line of low-cost avionics targeted for the kitbuilt market and owner-installed market. The low-cost products are grouped together in the Bendix/King Crown Line, to differentiate them from the more expensive, dealer-installed Silver Crown radios.

Further up the sophistication line, AlliedSignal showed its new mid-priced GPS receivers, the VFR KLN 89 and the IFR-certifiable KLN 89B. Both are panel-mount units with moving maps.

Trimble Navigation, too, had news in the IFR panel-mount world. The Trimble 2000 Approach GPS received IFR approach certification in early March. It is the first of the new breed of IFR receivers to have all the switches contained in the receiver itself, simplifying installation. Other approach receivers require external switches and annunciators. The Trimble 2000 Approach needs only external annunciators. For those who want moving map capability in the panel, Trimble is offering the approach box in a package with an Argus 5000 moving map. Together, the two units make an impressive navigation team, accurately depicting even DME arcs — a real workload reliever in actual conditions.

Trimble Navigation's new blind GPS receiver offers today's buyers even more options. The receiver, about the size of a thick novel, can be tossed up on the glareshield. The position output then can be used to drive all sorts of laptop options.

One company taking advantage of the technology is MentorPlus Software. MentorPlus packages the Trimble receiver with its new FliteMap for Windows. Plug the Trimble data into your notebook computer that's running FliteMap and your entire route is laid out for you in a bright color display. Or opt to lay the course over an electronic depiction of a World Aeronautical Chart, which MentorPlus now also offers.

If the Trimble receiver is a bit bigger than you'd care for, MentorPlus also offers a Rockwell GPS receiver packaged on a credit-card- size card that can be slipped into some notebook computers. Toss the tiny antenna up on the glareshield and you're ready to go.

Northstar Avionics used the show to debut the enroute IFR certification of its M3 GPS receiver. The then-VFR M3 with Smart-Comm debuted at last year's Sun 'n Fun. The unit's sophisticated database will tune a remote-mount Becker Avionics transceiver with frequencies appropriate for the airspace sector being flown in. Those who don't need an additional transceiver can manually tune the panel-mount radios using the M3's prompts.

Impressive stuff all around, but what do you put in your panel? A tough question these days, but who would go back to the days when about the only decision was whether to put in a standalone DME along with your two nav/coms and ADF?

Spending a couple of days immersed in what's new about general aviation can make even the most curmudgeoned pilot start to believe that the industry really does have a bright future. Tomorrow's cockpits are here; the new engines and airframes are just over the horizon.