Attitudes to GPS around Europe

Much easier here in Germany because obviously our granddads messed-up big style in both World Wars so whatever methods they applied must have been sub-optimal and nobody listenes to war stories anyway. Personally I have witnessed the introduction of (civilian) GPS from day one and there has been little resistance. Even the authorities had a favorable attitude towards it and the “For VFR navigation only” placards vanished after a few years. In our C421 we got a Garmin 100 installed in 1992 and the avionics firm was allowed (then! No more today….) to connect it to the autopilot. All that was required was a little amber “GPS” indicator next to the HSI and a luminous “MSG” indicator in the field of view of the pilot. The GPS unit itself only had a dimly backlit grey LCD so messages, the most common in the early nineties being “Poor GPS coverage”, would have been missed easily otherwise.

In training, GPS has not fully arrived to this day as we all know, especially in the PPL sector. Generally the attitude of most instructors (at least in the commercial training environment that I am part of) has been very GPS friendly since twenty years. But with most basic training aircraft still not GPS equipped this does not help much. At least, since more than a decade, all our IFR certified training aircraft are equipped with one or two GNS430/530 units so no CPL/IR/ME student leaves our school without being able to master these devices.

I’ve heard a lot about this… from the anti-gps crowd (mainly on other forums). But I have to say that I haven’t experience it much. My only experience in the UK was while I was doing my ppl, about a year ago. I was chatting to my instructor and told him that I find navigating with just a map and a compass quite tiring as I’m constantly over checking I’m in the right spot. He said not to worry to much as after I get my licence I would use GPS all the time. He also added not to tell the chief instructor that he told me that as he’s not supposed to encourage the use of GPS.

Few weeks later I went to the chief instructor and told him why would the school discourage GPS. His response was ’Don’t be ridiculous we don’t do that. It’s idiotic to fly around the London airspace without GPS.’ He did also add that I should keep my dead reckoning skills sharp in case I have equipment failure.

But with most basic training aircraft still not GPS equipped this does not help much.

Would you be allowed to use a GPS during the PPL skill test now? When I did the PPL, I couldn’t have used it for the skill test, hence basic trainers haven’t been equipped with panel mount GPS, and GPS wasn’t trained during the PPL training.

Would you be allowed to use a GPS during the PPL skill test now?

No. Neither for the CPL skill test (at least not for the whole duration of the test). But many training aircraft are used for renting and hours building as well, so it would certainly make sense to equip them with GPS navigation.

But many training aircraft are used for renting and hours building as well

Would renters or hour builders pay 10€ more per hour for having a panel mount GPS? I very much doubt it.

it would certainly make sense to equip them with GPS navigation.

That’s what people do, by clamping a 496 or tablet to the yoke.

Panel mount GPS are useful only for driving the autopilot, everything else IMO is better handled by noncertified products.

In my grass roots flying environment use of GPS is universal, though most people proudly announce they still keep paper charts somewhere around – some even actively carrying them in the cockpit. What is astonishing is the wide variety in GPS equipment: one sees everything from the most primitive car-portable through iPads through glass panels with auto-pilot hooked up. One chap I know normally flies with three hand-held gps’s – I can’t help feeling that an admission of poor faith in his other navigation abilities.

For myself, when my homebrew GPS gave up during a flight into an area I had never flown before3, with CAS on all sides including above, I did turn back – OTOH when flying into better known areas I’ll not even carry it any longer, relying on known references only, and the paper map plus the FIS as backup resources.

The thing is, VFR GPS navigation requires no skills. A moving map that tells you where you are and what direction you are going, is 99% of what navigation is all about. There is no training needed to look at a glass map.

I got my PPL before GPS, and flew for 10 years at least without even thinking I was missing something. Dead reckoning is not difficult, but it’s a skill that has to be learned. GPS nav is children’s play, not the least interesting or fun even, but it simplifies flying and I wouldn’t be without it today.

If GPS nav became mandatory, the only thing that would happen was we would be required to install yet another certified and over priced panel mount piece of junk that not a single person would use anyway. We would all use our pads and phones.

Today’s situation where we are required to know how to navigate the old fashioned way, but are free to use any GPS we chose, is the best situation we can hope for. Let’s not try to change that because of some academic principle or whatever the reason is.

Would you be allowed to use a GPS during the PPL skill test now?

Both my PPL and IR exam included the use of the GPS. After the initial map and stopwatch leg, the examiner wanted to see my use of the GPS. The IR exam was all the way with GPS and given that I got one of the very few examiners that knew the GNS, he wanted to see coupled approaches and even asked “what is this OBS button for”. His point was to show me that no student and almost no FI knew how to use the OBS mode but he failed to make his point

For The Netherlands:
In the PPL training environment the general tone is that GPS is not reliable, and should be used only for backup purposes.
If I show them a GPS instrument approach plate and state that GPS is used for primary naviation, they sniffle and respond: “Yeah, but that is IFR”.
People that get PPL training on a G1000 aircraft will fly with the moving map hidden and use dead reckoning technique, as that is what is assessed during exam.

Most of the VFR pilots I know do their flight planning by drawing lines on a paper map, but don’t know how to use the FPL function of their G430/G1000.

But times are changing. There are some flight instructors that are actively using Skydemon or other moving map products.

In the ATPL/CPL/IR training industry the first thing you learn is how to use the GPS ;-)

I should keep my dead reckoning skills sharp in case I have equipment failure.

I would first ask ATC for help and let them do the navigation rather than messing around.
I have a portable radio with me for that situation. I also carry a Garmin 296 for emergencies.
Using dead reckoning would really be the last resort.