When shopping for a handheld device, consider several key concerns beyond the groovy features that each device touts in its advertisements. These include:
- Menu logic. Can you access the unit's functions easily or do you find yourself returning to the manual again and again because the menus and functions are structured in a confusing way? Can you access the functions that you use most (likely the direct-to, nearest airport, and flight planning functions) with just a couple of button presses?
- Battery life. What kind of power sources can the handheld use? Does it offer a way to derive power from the aircraft electrical system? Can you use rechargeable batteries with the unit? How long will the unit run with fully charged batteries?
- Mounting system. Does the handheld device fit easily into your cockpit layout? Does it mount on the yoke or a kneeboard, or must you mount it permanently to the panel for the best view? Whether you rent or own the airplane you fly makes a big difference in what these answers mean to you.
With these questions in mind, we can recommend the following for you to try. Like your favorite headset, personal preference goes a long way in selecting the right handheld.
Lowrance AirMap 2000C
Price: $999. For more information: 800/324-0044www.lowrance.com
The Lowrance AirMap 2000C comes Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)-capable and has a sharp 5-inch-diagonal screen. You access the menus and move the cursor by using the eight dedicated buttons and arrow keys on the case.
Most navigation tasks are handled from the Pages menu, which accesses three main screens and their various displays. On the Map page, you have a choice of a map panel (which includes GPS-derived displays of groundspeed, altitude, and heading), a full map (with data blocks at the bottom), a compass overlay (at the top of the screen), a two-map display, and a digital data display (which shows seven data blocks plus a latitude and longitude readout).
The Navigation page offers three choices. The first is a navigation panel with a horizontal situation indicator using GPS-derived data and a simulated flight director with yellow bars and an orange chevron. An HSI map screen replaces the flight director presentation with a map on the bottom half of the screen. The aviation map selection gives a full-screen map with the latitude/longitude displayed along the bottom.
The 2000C operates from a DC power adapter or from four AA batteries (standard alkaline, rechargeable alkaline, or NiMh). Lowrance has incorporated airport taxiway diagrams for major (Class B primary) airports in its database. You can create custom map files with MapCreate software (included) or purchase Freedom Maps -- preloaded MMC cards.
AvMap EKP-IV
Price: about $1,499. For more information: 800/363-2627http://avmapnavigation.c-map.com
C-Map Aviation's AvMap EKP-IV has a super-sharp 7-inch-diagonal TFT (thin film transistor) display. The portrait-screen layout (a landscape presentation is also available) includes data blocks taking up the top quarter of the display.
The moving map operates in one of three modes. Cursor mode lets you control the screen by movement of the cursor. Home mode keeps a specified fix within the visible map area; the map scrolls and redraws as your current position changes. Auto Zoom mode keeps the destination visible on the screen and adjusts according to your route and proximity to the destination. A Course Predictor projects your current track based on a set time interval at the current groundspeed and heading, simplifying course intercepts and wind correction.
The joystick is used in conjunction with buttons along the right side and top of the unit and makes it easy to access functions. The EKP-IV accepts up to 1,000 user waypoints, identifiable on screen by 16 different icons. Ten flight plans can be stored, each with a maximum of 100 waypoints. The EKP-IV also has an HSI (horizontal situation indicator) screen that you can select instead of the moving map.
A Jeppesen database containing aeronautical information is updated every 28 days and is contained on a Compact Flash card. The EKP-IV uses either a DC adapter, to power from the aircraft electrical system, or six NiMh rechargeable batteries. A remote GPS antenna comes on a 15-foot cable for positioning in the cockpit.
Garmin iQue 3600a
Price: $1,099 retail.For more information: www.garmin.com
The iQue 3600a, from Garmin, said to be aviation's first "ready to fly" personal digital assistant (PDA), was introduced in January. The Palm-OS device has a 3.8-inch color display, a 200MHz processor, and expandable memory via Secure Digital cards. In addition to the built-in base map, the iQue 3600a provides terrain and obstacle data, a Jeppesen database, and the usual PDA functions. With the terrain data is an alert system to warn you when obstacles come into range.
No stylus is needed to access the navigation features; place the device in its proprietary cradle and navigate using dedicated Direct-To, Nearest, Menu, Escape, Enter, and directional rocker buttons common to Garmin's other handheld aviation GPS units.
The iQue 3600a's cradle mounts easily on the aircraft yoke. Additional map information can be downloaded from optional MapSource CDs for land-based functions.
Flight1 Software for Cessna 172R
In many businesses, you wouldn't expect a market leader to encourage piggyback development on its products -- especially a giant like Microsoft. But the company -- or at least those leaders in its games division -- recognizes that third-party programmers can create interesting additions to the program, often in the form of aircraft modules. These modules emulate a specific aircraft to fly within Flight Simulator and bring utility to the program that Microsoft wouldn't normally allocate resources to develop.
Microsoft Flight Simulator defaults to a Cessna 172, and while the simulated airplane emulates the real thing reasonably well, Jim Rhoads, of Flight1 Software, decided he could take that simulation to a new level. The result is a seamless add-on to the Microsoft program that brings realism and detail in ways that the standard 172 aircraft model can't touch.
While the Microsoft 172 model's main cockpit view is optimized for a gamer playing with a joystick, the object of the Flight1 panel layout is to emulate the actual cockpit as closely as possible. "I designed the panel from a true pilot's perspective, allowing the user to see exactly what they would see when sitting in the seat and looking forward," says Rhoads. It's also designed to be used with peripherals such as an external radio stack and throttle quadrant -- though there are invisible buttons on the panel you can click on to view these parts of the cockpit.
The installation went very smoothly; once the program was installed I simply accessed the Flight1 172 from the aircraft list within Flight Simulator. The aircraft comes with a beautifully rendered yet standard paint scheme; the user can change the paint to his liking using the Text-o-Matic repaint application that comes with the program. Aircraft performance mimics the real thing better than any other PC-based flight sim aircraft I have tested -- I used backcountry strips in the Microsoft database as my virtual testbed. The program is available as a download from the Flight1 Web site.
Price: $24.95. For more information: 877/727-4568; www.flight1.com
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