I feel a bit like Senator Claghorn, pausing to adjust the papers on the podium before raising my eyes to the gallery and in deep, mellifluous tones saying, "With deep respect for my colleague across the aisle, I rise in support of the Garmin GNS 480." In the interest of full disclosure, I have to acknowledge that I've been a strong proponent of the 480 ever since I had one installed in the panel of my Cessna Cardinal. So, the announcement by Garmin in December that it was discontinuing the 480 came as a real disappointment for me and other pilots flying with the 480. It may be too late, but I want the 480 to get the posthumous recognition it justly deserves.
I've grown tired of the 480 being maligned and ignored. Mac, my colleague across the aisle, in his Left Seat column ("WAAS Made Easy") in January, described how easy it is to fly WAAS approaches with vertical guidance. While touting the WAAS capabilities of the Garmin 430W/530W and the G1000, Mac never mentioned the Garmin GNS 480, née UPS CNX 80. In Mac's defense, the installed base of the 430/530 navigators is approximately 10 times that of the 80/480. But those of us, the few, the proud, flying with the 480, want to be recognized. As an option for upgrading a conventionally equipped panel, the 480 has deserved serious consideration.
As good and as popular as they are, Garmin's 430W/530W came late to the party. Way back in the spring of 2003, UPS Aviation Technologies introduced the CNX 80 with a WAAS processor that updated five times a second instead of the then standard of once a second. And then in 2004, Garmin further enhanced the CNX 80 with a software update that allowed it to calculate vertical guidance for VNAV and LPV approaches. In the meantime, Garmin was continuing to work on a WAAS engine for its 430/530 navigators; it was a long time coming.
But unfortunately, the 480 got a bad rep right out of the box. I think much of its slow acceptance by the market, despite its WAAS capability, was because it entered the race of integrated navigators way behind Garmin's 430/530 that were, by the time the 480 made its debut, well ensconced in a plethora of panels. Competing against the popularity of the 430/530 was an uphill battle.
Radio shops, confident of their customers' satisfaction with the 430/530 boxes, were reluctant to recommend a unit with which they weren't as familiar. Typically, when a customer asked an avionics shop about the CNX 80, the stock response was something on the order of: "If you're going to be doing serious IFR flying, then the 480 may make sense, but it uses a different interface than the 430/530 that isn't as user friendly, so the 430/530 is the way to go." As a result, customers were hesitant to sign up for something their installers were promoting only half-heartedly.
And then there were the rumors that circulated at AirVenture 2003 that Garmin was considering purchasing UPSAT. The assumption that many of us made was that Garmin wanted to acquire UPS's Aviation Technology division for the advances it had engineered in its WAAS box. Feeding the market malaise was the feeling that Garmin was acquiring AT in order to kill off the competition. To reassure pilots Garmin announced that it was fully behind the CNX 80 and, as its ads stated, "We're putting our name on the front so pilots can fly behind it." Nevertheless, despite Garmin's assurances that it would keep the 480 in its product line and continue to support it, the concern was enough to further depress sales of an integrated navigator that those of us who knew and loved it felt had features, aside from the WAAS capability, that set it apart from Garmin's already popular favorites.
So, what does the 480 offer that makes those of us "flying behind it" feel it was the better choice to occupy precious panel real estate?
One of the impressive things that set the 480 at the head of the class is the airway flight planning feature. Ironically, it's probably that single feature that fostered the impression that it was okay for serious IFR but too complex for your average pilot. That was a false impression.
The flight planning function is simple. After you select your departure and destination airports you can build the flight plan either from waypoint to waypoint or along airways. If you choose the airway option the smart keys change to represent all the airways that are available from your departure point or a nearby waypoint. Once you select an airway all the intersections and VORs along that airway are listed alphabetically. Selecting the VOR or intersection that ends your leg on that airway again brings up a choice for another airway or a waypoint.
