Years ago, I wrote an article for these pages in which I opined that there was no need or fiscal justification for the dual GPS navigators that seem so common in a well-equipped panel. I stand by that, but times have changed.
In the article, I first explored where that “dual-think” came from. Many of us remember life before GPS or LORAN. We had to navigate using VORs. While possible with a single receiver, it was much easier with two. Plus, having two coms was a convenience where we could use one with ATC and the other to check weather or perform other chores. Thus, dual nav/coms became the standard. And that standard simply endured with Garmin’s GNS-series GPS/nav/coms.
