Frustrated with Your GPS? Take our GPS Survey.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” So begins Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. But it’s just as true today if you fly with a GPS receiver. When you know which buttons to push and it does what you want, times are indeed good. But when you struggle with the buttons and can’t get it to do what you want, it can be the worst of times—particularly if you’re IFR and you’re having trouble loading an instrument approach!

In the past, pilots could operate virtually any VOR receiver, even if they’d never seen it before. Today, we have far more advanced capabilities in GPS units, but alas, the capability is useless if a pilot cannot unlock the mysteries of programming the GPS.

So pilots, here's a chance to bare your souls and frustrations. Please take our GPS survey now and share what drives you crazy about using a GPS. Tell us which models of portable or panel mounted GPSs you use most. Then let us know if you’re always able to get it to do what you want, or if there are particular functions you find challenging to use. Finally, let us know what can be done to make it easier for you to operate a GPS. Who knows, maybe we can collectively find a way to tame the GPS once and for all!

Comments

[Max Trescott]

I was just reading through some of the comments people posted while taking our GPS survey and I loved this one so much, I had to post it for everyone to see:

"There's too much miscellaneous information on too many different screens. It's like trying to use TurboTax to do your taxes while flying IFR, and you don't even get a mouse and full keyboard!"

Thanks for the great analogy!