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Does anyone have any experience using a modest, handheld GPS to assist in flying pattern searches, such as for search and rescue, forest fire patrol, etc? I am wondering if there are any particular features to look for in a GPS for that mission, or if anyone has any specific models to recommend. Cheers, Matthew
WingX Pro on the iPad has labeled search grids available along with search patterns within the grids. If you do a search on WingX and go to their web site, there's a short video segment that shows what it looks like and how it works.
Great stuff, MEdwards, thanks, though I would prefer a standalone GPS rather than an iPad for this purpose.
Matthew, some of the older Garmin hand helds could help you. The 396 has a TRACK LOGGING feature. (AKA, "breadcrumb" feature) You can program it to follow your previous track. This feature extends back to earlier models like, (I'm trying to remember), the 190 or 200. But thats not what you are looking for.
I have done searches over water with some very plain Lorans and GPSs by selecting a central waypoint and maintaining a constant range. Hold 0.2 or 0.5 miles or what ever and fly the circle. Much like flying a DME arc procedure. But thats not what you're looking for either.
You are likely looking for a means to program a pattern called "mowing the lawn." For this, you need a feature to input an OFFSET. If you were to get sloppy and wander off course, that error would be called CROSS TRACK ERROR. Lets focus instead on OFFSETS.
Assume that you and I were on an air to air freq and you said "Bob, I'm leaving A going to B. I reply "OK, Matthew, I'm leaving B enroute to A. I WILL INPUT A 0.5 MILE RIGHT OFFSET". You reply "OK, I will also input a 0.5 mi offset to the right." We will pass left side to left side a mile apart. Our tracks will each be1/2 mi parallel right. After we pass, we take out the offset if we want reach our destinations.
Now lets set up a Mow the lawn search pattern 5 miles north and south and 5 miles east and west with legs 1/2 mile apart. User WP1 is the start point at the SW corner. User WP2 is the first turn 5 mi N on the NW corner. Upon crossing WP2, turn E and set up a 0.5 mile left offset. The CDI will deflect left and parallel the first leg. When the GPS says you're at WP1, you're really 1/2 mi E of it. This is the thought process of the GPS. Next leg, again turn E, input a 0.5 mi RIGHT offset and keep on keeping on until you have completed 10 legs. It helps a lot if you have someone else running the GPS to reduce workload.
I'm not sure if the Garmin 196 through 496 can do offsets. Good chance that they can. I know that the 430 and 530 panel mounts are able. Its real nice mowing the lawn with an autopilot. I suggest first making a diagram on paper and then doing a small scale run in a deserted parking lot. You should know how to create a new user WP with a range and bearing fron an existing WP. The Garmins can do this.
Bob
So the question made me curious and I looked at the manuals (on-line) for the Garmin handhelds. Curiously, the marine handhelds seem to be able to do it but the aviation ones do not mention in in the manuals.
Yes, of course you CAN plot out a SAR grid on a handheld. I used to do it for the Civil Air Patrol on my Garmin 195. It is a little tedious, that is all. You just plot each turn as a waypoint on a route. You can also, as mentioned to above, just plot your base leg and then, when you turn around the other way, maintain a cross track error according to your desired spacing. (90 knots, standard rate turn, puts you one nautical mile parallel to and in the opposite direction of the leg you just flew. That should give you a 50% chance of spotting a water buffalo from an altitude of 1000' feet (lower does not significantly improve the probability, for a variety of reasons.)
But... Why not an iPad or an AV8R or something similar? Last year's iPad plus a Dual or Bad Elf GPS is cheaper than the list price for any Garmin aviation hand-held. If you are doing SAR, you could even plot each leg of your search pattern the manual way, using Google Earth and have a nice satellite view for planning and tracking your progress.
Obviously, I remember what is was like to fly SAR, disaster assessment, and aerial recon's before we had GPS, not to mention nice glass panel mounts hooked into an autopilot that does all the work for you (although I can do that stuff, too.) If you want to take this off-line and have some serious discussions about what you want to do (thinking about your other posts on looking for a twin SAR airplane), send me an email.
Chris
Thanks, all. Despite my preference for a standalone GPS in this case (less likely to walk away, among other reasons) the WingX and Anywhere Map iPad or Android tablet options are very interesting. Please keep the feedback coming!
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Originally Posted by Mayhemxpc
My I-Pad with Wing-X Pro rapidly became my primary VFR navigation source and my panel-mounted Garmin is the back-up. The capability of the I-Pad is extraordinary! It's all right at your fingertips all the time (flight planning & in-flight). MUCH easier to use and far more capable than any portable GPS out there. It will easily do the grid patterns you want. It will record your flight track for later review while keeping an eye out for impending terrain and controlled airspace. Best bang for the buck you can get!
One thing I am finding as I dig a little deeper is that many of the software packages for iPad aviation GPS are geared toward the US, Canadian, European or Australian/NZ markets. I am looking for something to use here in Kenya, out in the bush, and I am not sure that Anywhere Map, WingX, etc. really make sense out in the bush just because you are paying for a lot of data updates that don't do any good out here. I may well end up turning to a generic handheld GPS intended for ground use under these circumstances, unless I am missing something.
I purchased a brand new Av8or just a few weeks ago for 300.00. The man I got her from said he had one more for that price. These are brand new units.
I use Foreflight. It is extremely useful, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive (especially compared to the Garmin and WingX apps.) Foreflight advertises that it has some functionality world wide and they say that they have been adding imagery for Africa. Setting up a search pattern in Foreflight is EASY. On the other hand, if all you want to do is describe a search pattern, with specified turn points and legs, well, any hand-held GPS manufactured in the past few years can do that. I am talking basic models used for geocaching, orienteering, and just wandering in the woods. From what you described, you don't need a map (although these are available for Africa, too) and you don't specifically need aviation functions. If I understand it, you just need something to navigate you between points, with the ability to show where you are and to plot points of interest. If that is correct, there are many (inexpensive) hand-held non-aviation GPS's that can do the job. So can many non-aviation navigation apps for the iPad/iPad mini/or iPhone/iPod. If you need something with real aviation capabilities, then look at foreflight.