Need help with G430W

[PeterDe]

So I was flying today from KABQ to KAEG in Cessna 172 with Garmin 433W. I entered and loaded a flight plan into Garmin. I was first doing some touch and Goes at KAEG because they (ATX) would not let me do a practice ILS-22 approach and then requested a practice hold and ILS at Ranway 3, but I encountered two problems:1) I could not orient myself properly on the HSI to use it for hold at ABQ VOR so I was flying the hold by looking on the GPS screen: I don’t understand what was I supposed to do (I switched CDI to ILS and dialed VOR ; 2) while in the hold, I was trying to load KABQ approaches but the Garmin would not let me (it was only offering KAEG approaches even when I tried to bypass the flight plan by pressing Direct (after pressing direct button, Garmin would still offer only KAEG approaches). So I gave up and after hold landed visually on Ranway 8 at KABQ.
What was I doing wrong and what should I have done differently?

 

[midlifeflyer]

I could not orient myself properly on the HSI to use it for hold at ABQ VOR

A couple of questions on the hold.
Was this a published hold or hold in lieu?
Were you doing it GPS or VLOC? If in VLOC, did you manually set the CDI to the inbound course?

On the other, hard to say without seeing it. One thought. The PROC button is dedicated to the destination in the current flight plan. You should have been able to add ABQ to the bottom of the flight plan, punch D->, head there and hit PROC.

 

[PeterDe]

Thanks. I don’t understand why I have to add ABQ to flight plan, why would not Direct override that?

 

[Mikey52]

Thanks. I don’t understand why I have to add ABQ to flight plan, why would not Direct override that?

Because it's not programmed to do it that way.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Thanks. I don’t understand why I have to add ABQ to flight plan, why would not Direct override that?

That's OK. I don't understand why you wouldn't want add ABQ to the flight plan if you are going there

Besides, I didn't say it wouldn't. Just describing how I would do it. Remember that in these modern (yeah, I guess the GNS is old at this point) units, there's usually more than one way to accomplish something. While in the approach sequence (including the missed hold) at one airport, you hit D→, enter another airport and activate it, you have left the current approach. You can hit the PROC button and load the approach, which will then be entered into the fight plan, overwriting the previous flight plan and approach. I just find it far more efficient to do it in the flight plan since I'm going to be in that window anyway (and even more fun to set up the next approach in the catalog before I even take off).

 

[PeterDe]

Thanks. I don’t understand why I have to add ABQ to flight plan, why would not Direct override that?

So in emergency or to divert one has to work on flight plan first instead of overriding everything by pressing direct? I’d submit that it’s a design fault

 

[PeterDe]

I followed an earlier very good advice - asked and got to hold, three full rounds all the while pressing direct and it would offer only the KAEG, would not let me enter KABQ. If this was a true emergency and true IMC, there would be a crisis…

 

[midlifeflyer]

I followed an earlier very good advice - asked and got to hold, three full rounds all the while pressing direct and it would offer only the KAEG, would not let me enter KABQ. If this was a true emergency and true IMC, there would be a crisis…

It doesn't make sense. I have never had a problem like the one what you are describing flying and teaching this stuff. Switch airports and approaches all the time since my first GNS flights sometime back in the stone ages. Which hold were you in when you tried to go to ABQ and couldn't? What was loaded in your flight plan at the time? What did you do step-wise to try to go Direct ABQ.

 

[PeterDe]

Didn’t make sense to me either. Hold at ABQ VOR.

 

[Palmpilot]

Maybe this is related, or maybe not. One thing I found out the hard way on a 430 was that if I want to go direct to an intermediate fix on a GPS approach and have the unit sequence through the subsequent legs of the approach, I need to go to the flight plan page and highlight the fix there before hitting Direct. When I tried entering direct to that fix outside of the flight plan page, it didn't sequence inbound once I reached that fix, if I remember rightly.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Maybe this is related, or maybe not. One thing I found out the hard way on a 430 was that if I want to go direct to an intermediate fix on a GPS approach and have the unit sequence through the subsequent legs of the approach, I need to go to the flight plan page and highlight the fix there before hitting Direct. When I tried entering direct to that fix outside of the flight plan page, it didn't sequence inbound once I reached that fix, if I remember rightly.

Yeah you do. A Direct outside the flight plan is, well, outside the flight plan.

But I know that I can be anywhere in a flight plan, hit Direct, and go anywhere else. If it’s an airport, once activated, I can load an approach to it. I don’t have enough from the OP to recreate their issue.