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FMS vs. GPS-Nav-Com |
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bradthepilot 
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Joined: 07 Jan 2017 Location: St. Paul MN Status: Offline Points: 65 |
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 Topic: FMS vs. GPS-Nav-ComPosted: 13 Jan 2017 at 9:25am |
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So I was asked the other day about what makes my new IFD540 an "FMS" instead of a GPS-Nav-Com. Other than pointing to the button on the unit labeled "FMS", I was hard pressed to do so. Clearly there are elements of flight planning in both, of vnav in both (i.e. GNS430W), and so on. Is FMS really a marketing term?
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Brad Benson
RV-6A N164BL |
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paulr
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Joined: 24 Jan 2014 Status: Offline Points: 545 |
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Posted: 13 Jan 2017 at 9:53am |
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I'm guessing there's no hard-and-fast line in the GA market. I'd say that a GPS navigator will tell you where you are and which direction to go to get where you want to be. An FMS can take you there. Think of the FMS in something like a 767: you can program it with a DP, enroute clearances including fixes, crossing and speed restrictions, and STARs, then, coupled to the autopilot, it can fly the plane through those procedures. It doesn't do the things we think of from a 530 though: no moving map, etc. The IFD540 (and GTNx50) lines blur this functionality. Avi seems to have taken the approach of making their device act more like a big-iron FMS in the way you plan and execute a sequence of legs. I'll defer to people with big-iron experience to give more detailed examples. |
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bradthepilot
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Joined: 07 Jan 2017 Location: St. Paul MN Status: Offline Points: 65 |
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Posted: 13 Jan 2017 at 3:15pm |
That's essentially it - I have experience with Collins ProLine FMSes for example, and the IFD does most of what it does plus a bunch of things it doesn't. Performance planning is the largest gap but not all FMSes I've seen do that equally either. On the other hand, my old King IFR GPS would do a DP, enroute clearances from fixes etc, STARs, and an approach. The interface and concept was perhaps different, but most of the functionality was there. It did lack the "FMS" button and LSKs however :-)
Edited by bradthepilot - 13 Jan 2017 at 3:15pm |
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Brad Benson
RV-6A N164BL |
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paulr wrote: