GNS430 - can an approach be saved into a stored flight plan?

[sarangan]

I thought I knew the 430 well, but this one got me confused. Can an approach be saved into a flight plan? PROC appends an approach into the active flight plan, but can the same be done into a saved (inactive) flight plan?

 

[benyflyguy]

I’m gonna day no- but someone will come along and disagree perhaps. Then we both will learn

technically you could load the waypoints in for the approach but that won’t give you a glide slope or go missed correctly.

It is pretty easy to load them quickly anyway real-time.
Wondering what advantage would be to have it preloaded I guess one or two less steps.

 

[sarangan]

I’m gonna day no- but someone will come along and disagree perhaps. Then we both will learn

technically you could load the waypoints in for the approach but that won’t give you a glide slope or go missed correctly.

It is pretty easy to load them quickly anyway real-time.
Wondering what advantage would be to have it preloaded I guess one or two less steps.

I was just curious for the sake of understanding. I am not sure why that limitation exists. I know it is easy to add the approach during flight in most cases, but not in every case. For example if you want to fly an approach into an airport other than your destination specified in the flight plan, you would have to manually type in the airport code when you select PROC. I suppose one could do that in the active flight plan on the ground before departure, but having it saved would make it more convenient.

 

[FORANE]

I was just curious for the sake of understanding. I am not sure why that limitation exists. I know it is easy to add the approach during flight in most cases, but not in every case. For example if you want to fly an approach into an airport other than your destination specified in the flight plan, you would have to manually type in the airport code when you select PROC. I suppose one could do that in the active flight plan on the ground before departure, but having it saved would make it more convenient.

Agree. My home airport MDA is 1700 AGL. As a result, the missed is not uncommon (at least for those of us who choose to fly the approach when the METAR is near or below the MDA). I would like to be able to add the planned missed airport into the flight plan prior to having to do it while flying the missed. The missed airport is only 13 miles from my home airport. Unfortunately with the 430W, that is not an option.

 

[Geosync]

I'm willing to bet it comes down to legal liability. They would get sued if Pilot A loaded a saved approach that was updated/changed and he ends up crashing because of it, or even it was suggested it was contributory. GA manufacturers/OEMs are heavily influenced by the lawsuits over the years.

 

[sarangan]

I'm willing to bet it comes down to legal liability. They would get sued if Pilot A loaded a saved approach that was updated/changed and he ends up crashing because of it, or even it was suggested it was contributory. GA manufacturers/OEMs are heavily influenced by the lawsuits over the years.

If they were concerned about that, they should not allow any flight plans to be saved, not just approaches. I don't know if the stored flight plans are examined during a database update or not, but it would be relatively easy to do. The software can automatically go through the saved flight plans and flag any that require changes. It could even refuse to activate those flight plans. Do we know that is not currently done? What happens, for example, if the stored flight plan contains a fix that is no longer in the next database update?

 

[midlifeflyer]

Yes. I do it all the time. On my last IPC I loaded all three approaches we were going to do. My CFII never saw it before and was amazed.

But it's not via the PROC key. The Garmin PROC key is dedicated to the current flight plan in the Garmin navigators. Go into the flight plan catalog and create the flight plan there. Instead of PROC, tap MENU and load the approach from there.

 

[sarangan]

Yes. I do it all the time. On my last IPC I loaded all three approaches we were going to do. My CFII never saw it before and was amazed.

But it's not via the PROC key. The Garmin PROC key is dedicated to the current flight plan in the Garmin navigators. Go into the flight plan catalog and relate the flight plan there. Instead of PROC, tap MENU and load the approach from there.

View attachment 85939

Wow, fantastic. I had no idea it was there!!! Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Wow, fantastic. I had no idea it was there!!! Thanks for pointing that out.

I saw a 430/530 video once which taught me there are all sorts of things on the menu key you don't see otherwise.

 

[benyflyguy]

Yes. I do it all the time. On my last IPC I loaded all three approaches we were going to do. My CFII never saw it before and was amazed.

But it's not via the PROC key. The Garmin PROC key is dedicated to the current flight plan in the Garmin navigators. Go into the flight plan catalog and create the flight plan there. Instead of PROC, tap MENU and load the approach from there.

View attachment 85939

Thanks for sharing. Will have to try to play with this on the weekend

 

[sarangan]

Yes. I do it all the time. On my last IPC I loaded all three approaches we were going to do. My CFII never saw it before and was amazed.

But it's not via the PROC key. The Garmin PROC key is dedicated to the current flight plan in the Garmin navigators. Go into the flight plan catalog and create the flight plan there. Instead of PROC, tap MENU and load the approach from there.

View attachment 85939

I tried this on the sim (not in the airplane), and I am amazed that I missed this all these years. However, I could not figure out how to load more than one approach. Every time I load an approach it seems to overwrite the previous approach. Any thoughts?

 

[midlifeflyer]

BTW, all the Garmin navigators from the 430 up do this. The Avidyne IFD does it too but you don't have to put it in the catalog. The IFD lets you add another airport in the flight plan after the destination and load an approach there. @Martin Pauly posted a link to a video a few months ago where he demonstrates it.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I tried this on the sim (not in the airplane), and I am amazed that I missed this all these years. However, I could not figure out how to load more than one approach. Every time I load an approach it seems to overwrite the previous approach. Any thoughts?

The system is designed to hold only one approach per flight plan.. When I did my three, one was in the active plan and the other two were in two separate flight plans in the catalog.

The three is really just an IPC/practice thing. The practical use is for an alternate or other diversion in a real situation. For example, you are in the missed hold at your destination and want to load your clearance and expected approach at your alternate which is not too far away before you get going and get busy. If you do it in your active flight plan, as soon as you load that new approach, your course guidance for the hold you are in disappears and your great autopilot has nothing to follow. Load it in the catalog and it's waiting for when you are ready.

Don't beat yourself for not knowing. I'm sure they are several "advanced" features (and some not so advanced) not that many are familiar with.

 

[sarangan]

The system is designed to hold only one approach per flight plan.. When I did my three, one was in the active plan and the other two were in two separate flight plans in the catalog.

The three is really just an IPC/practice thing. The practical use is for an alternate or other diversion in a real situation. For example, you are in the missed hold at your destination and want to load your clearance and expected approach at your alternate which is not too far away before you get going and get busy. If you do it in your active flight plan, as soon as you load that new approach, your course guidance for the hold you are in disappears and your great autopilot has nothing to follow. Load it in the catalog and it's waiting for when you are ready.

Don't beat yourself for not knowing. I'm sure they are several "advanced" features (and some not so advanced) not that many are familiar with.

That is great information. Thank you!

 

[midlifeflyer]

Hmm. I'm working on my third "COVID Video" comparing how different GPS navigators from Garmin and Avidyne do a similar task. If I ever finish the third one (it's turned out to be far more work than I expected) before things get back to normal, maybe the catalog could be a fourth,

 

[Ravioli]

<--- This guy is getting confused. You guys use buttons other than Direct [identifier] <enter> <enter>?