Waypoints

A couple of keystrokes on the Garmin 530 GPS/map/com loaded the ILS approach to Runway 23 at Frederick, Maryland. The unit quickly drew the approach on its large color screen, showing my leg to the Frederick VOR in magenta and the rest of the approach—including the procedure turn and the holding pattern, if I needed it—in white. As I crossed the VOR and turned outbound for the transition to the initial approach fix at the outer marker, that segment became active, switching from white to magenta. Upon loading the approach, the 530 had volunteered the localizer frequency out of its database and placed it in the standby position on the VHF nav portion of the display. I flopped the frequency up to the active window.

After crossing the outer marker and setting the HSI to the inbound course, I followed the magenta line outlining the procedure turn and soon reintercepted the localizer inbound. As I did so, the 530 automatically switched from GPS guidance to localizer/glideslope guidance, which it calls "Vloc"—for VHF localizer. I intercepted the glideslope, put the gear and flaps down, and we motored down the approach, breaking out at 1,300 feet agl with good visibility underneath.

With smooth conditions in the clouds, no wind, and good visibility underneath, this was the perfect time to practice approaches with the new Garmin 530. The pilot interface is nearly identical to the Garmin 430 that I had installed last winter. I recently swapped out the 430 for the 530 with its larger display. It's hard to quibble with the capabilities of the 430, particularly when moving up to it as I did from a loran with a one-line display. However, the bigger screen in the 530 makes a tremendous difference when it comes to situational awareness and the ability to display other data on the screen. I hope soon to add BFGoodrich Stormscope data to the display and data from the EchoFlight satellite-based weather service. Garmin also has an interface with the BFGoodrich SkyWatch traffic advisory system, which, for now, is probably out of my price range, but still excellent information to have. Look for other interfaces and data to debut soon.

After reaching the decision height on the ILS I could have touched a button on the face of the 530 and had it lead me to the missed-approach waypoint and then enter a hold—all neatly drawn on the display for me to follow. I wonder, how long will it be before we won't need approach charts in the traditional sense?

Not long, according to Jeppesen. In fact some operators are already flying with strictly electronic approach plates. Flight Options, a company in Cleveland that operates a fleet of business jets under a fractional ownership program, relies on a kneeboard-size color display—two to an airplane for redundancy purposes—to depict its approach plates. There are no paper approach charts on board. The displays, which can be removed from the airplane and used in an office or hotel room for flight planning and weather gathering, accept a CD-ROM from Jeppesen with all of the approach plates stored on it. JeppView is the name of the product. It was introduced by Jepp several years ago—ahead of its time, admit Jeppesen officials. But with the introduction of these new displays and others, the product has finally found a home.

At this point, the display is simply a viewer for the approach plates, departure and arrival procedures, and airport diagrams. However, a new version of the software will connect the display to a GPS, allowing the aircraft's location to be overlaid on the screen. At that point, a pilot will be able to precisely see his position relative to terrain, obstructions, and the correct flight path. Still to come, but in the works, is the ability to show the aircraft position relative to airways and other fixes in the en route portion of the flight.

How many controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents will be prevented by this amazing technology? How much more efficient will our air traffic control system become when pilots can confidently know precisely where they are relative to their surroundings? How many more pilots will be willing to fly IFR when they can see their position relative to airway fixes rather than just making a guess based on some obtuse needle position? How must our flight training programs change to embrace this new technology? It's hard to believe that instrument students still may be required to show competence with an NDB but aren't necessarily required to know anything about GPS navigation.

A year ago, we looked forward to the day when we might be able to display terrain and obstruction warnings on a cockpit display. Today, it's here. The UPS Aviation Technologies MX20 display alerts pilots when their flight path will impact terrain. Other companies have offered ground proximity warning systems for years, but they are cumbersome and expensive systems that rely on active sensors to detect the ground. The current low-cost generation from UPS and others relies strictly on a terrain and obstruction database partnered with a precise GPS-derived aircraft position to alert the pilot.

At Oshkosh I had the opportunity to fly with Sierra Flight Systems in its Cessna 210 equipped with a new generation of displays. The system consists of a primary flight display (PFD) that depicts attitude, terrain, and obstructions, along with airspeed, heading, and altitude tapes. The navigation display replaces the conventional HSI, combining the directional information with a moving map and a host of other features. The engine display graphically depicts all of the engine parameters and contains a number of alerting features and trend monitoring. The smaller engine/air data unit serves as a backup display for critical engine information and air data computations, such as wind direction, wind speed, and true airspeed.

Attitude and directional information is computed by a solid-state gyro with a mean time between failures in the tens-of-thousands-of-hours range. The color PFD uses military-style flight path marker symbology and a "highway in the sky" depiction to lead the pilot through a flight plan. All you have to do is keep the aircraft bull's-eye over the next dot, which represents the next waypoint. As you approach the waypoint, the point is depicted as a circle sitting on top of a pole; fly through the circle and you're on your way to the next waypoint. Meanwhile, you can watch towers and other obstructions slide by as yellow sticks poking up at you. The brown terrain glides by, with the system issuing an alert if you're too low.

The weather was gnarly and marginal VFR the day I flew in the busy airspace around Oshkosh. To me inside the cockpit, though, it seemed severe clear as I communed with the bright displays. I was dashing through hoop after hoop on the PFD while the others on board kept an eye out for traffic. A traffic-alert system, already in the works through a test program AOPA is participating in, would have reduced the workload even further.

Every flight can be like that. It need not matter to the pilot how low the conditions outside, if he can accurately and safely position himself relative to terrain and obstructions.

One of the most unusual features of the Sierra navigation display is the "dead-stick glide range." Based on wind, airspeed, altitude, and the glide capabilities of the airplane, the system draws an irregular line around the current position, outlining how far you can glide in the event of an engine failure. If that airport over there is within the envelope, you can make it. If not, better look elsewhere. This is a terrific safety advance, giving pilots precise information previously only guessed at.

The Sierra system is currently flying in many experimental aircraft. FAA certification is under way. The company hopes to have that complete in a matter of months, opening the door for it to be available on certified aircraft.

FAA certification in September of The New Piper's Malibu Meridian shows that such systems are in fact viable. The new turboprop from Piper hosts an advanced panel built around a Garmin avionics stack and a series of Meggitt Avionics displays. Like the Sierra displays, the Meggitt panel is driven by solid-state gyros. Meggitt chose conventional EFIS symbology for its displays. Not to let the cat too far out of the bag, but expect us to get some real-world experience with the Meggitt panel in next year's AOPA sweepstakes airplane.

A decade ago, loran dominated the gee-whiz factor in navigation. Then, GPS navigation moved from infancy to the current second-generation IFR units. Now we're seeing GPS partnered with a host of sophisticated databases and displays all working together to provide the pilot with the kind of situational awareness unthinkable a decade ago. As noted in " ASF at 50," we've made great strides in safety in the last half-century. These new tools promise an even brighter safety future.

Links to additional information about advanced cockpit displays may be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links/links0011.shtml). E-mail the author at [email protected].