Great Article.

 

One of the nice things about operating Part 91 aircraft is the difference betwixt the rules and their practical application.  For example, ATC doesn't really care what equipment you use to get from A to B as long as you go the way you said you were going to go.  If you crash, the NTSB may be concerned about the equipment you were using but you will no longer have to worry about it.

 

..............But they concluded in their written summary that the
required navigational equipment statement in 91.205 says that you can’t
use GPS for your primary navigation system because it is not
ground-based.  

 

If a Garmin 430 (Pre WAAS) can't be used as the primary, how does one file and fly GPS direct - avoiding the usual congestion around nun hat VORs and whimsical ATC routing (Assume below 18000 MSL)?  Let's see, an equipment code of LNC2/G indicates advanced RNAV.  Utilizing AIM 5.1.7.d.3(a), it's doable in an ATC radar environment - Aha!  The required ground equipment is ATC radar.

 

BTW, how many of you with a single Garmin unit (430/530) check your VOR accuracy every 30 days and log it, too?  I regularly check LOC/GS accuracy by practicing an ILS approach and rate how close I came to getting there in a precise and professional manner with no epithets issued.

 

Let's see, I can always only do approaches where the note "Radar Required" is prominently displayed, thus making further use of "required ground facilities."  Not!  A standalone GPS approach is a GPS approach and the only required ground facility is the runway at the bottom, RAIM notwithstanding.

 

The other ground equipment you can use is the radio where guidance is automatically activated by transmitting the code word "emergency!"

 

Roger, Wilco, Over and Out.