As I said in previous Garmin Pilot reports, Garmin deserves a tip of the editorial hat for consistently bringing useful updates that will benefit the average user. I like that the Pilot interface keeps getting better with expanding tech and frankly, it’s what users expect after spending big for a subscription.
The biggest change in the latest update is the new Flights page, which replaces the old Trip Planning page as the central hub for building and briefing a flight. Route planning, weight and balance, fuel planning, and briefing now live in one place instead of being scattered across tabs, and new quickset cards let you punch in key numbers fast, then expand them for the full detail. It’s a user interface change, but it’s the kind that actually saves time and frustrations. I recently used it on a cross-country trip and was thoroughly impressed.
SmartCharts, Garmin’s ultramodern charting tool, is expanding beyond the U.S. and Bahamas to Canada and Mexico this August. Pilots there also get Continuous Descent Final Approach paths on the vertical profile and cold weather corrections for temperature-restricted airports—features that U.S. users have had for a while now—extended north and south.
For Pilot users flying to EAA AirVenture, Garmin refreshed the FISK VFR Arrival across the navigation database, SmartCharts, and airport diagram adding waypoint labels, ATC’s colored runway dots and squares on the Oshkosh diagram, and a direct link from the chart to the arrival section of the notice. Starting July 9, the FISK procedure loads as a STAR in your avionics database, so you can couple the autopilot for lateral guidance on the arrival while keeping your eyes outside for traffic.
As usual, all of this is Apple-only for now; Android continues to wait its turn. One thing I have been anxiously waiting for is departure/arrival procedures having tags for Jet, Turboprop, and Piston, and unfortunately this update didn’t include that. With that said, I would have to guess this may sneak into an update sooner than later. Still, I think the latest update directly impacts Pilot users in a positive way.
I wish Garmin would put a little more effort into keeping Android closer in feature-parity to iOS.
I as well. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but speaking up is the only tool we have. It’s now yet another feature behind but still costs the same as iOS version.
While the FISK arrival waypoints are a useful addition for situational awareness, everyone needs to be following the visual references on the ground per the NOTAM. And encouraging pilots to use their autopilot in that situation is a terrible horrible no-good idea. Trim for 90kts at 1800ft, hand fly while following ground references and looking for traffic. If you cannot do that safely without an autopilot, land somewhere else and rent a car.
I agree in principle, but having seen first-hand how some pilots fly that arrival, it might actually be better if they couple the approach to their autopilot. At least then their flight paths will be predictable to everyone else who is capable of hand-flying it.
I would bet half of all pilots flying the Fisk arrival really have no business flying it, so it seems like making it easier (and thus hopefully safer) for them to fly it is a good thing, under the assumption that they are going to fly it anyway.
Leon,
While I will never argue that hand-flying skills shouldn’t stay sharp, automation is a tool that has evolved and made aviation safer while increasing pilots’ situational awareness. In the case of the FISK arrival, the GPS waypoints sit exactly over the visual landmarks, so flying the “magenta line” is the most precise reference you can get, rather than eyeballing it and saying “eh, close enough.”
Using automation isn’t about avoiding hand-flying, it’s about knowing when the tool adds precision and reduces risk. This is the same “use all available resources” principle behind CRM and single-pilot resource management: when a tool reduces risk and workload without giving anything up, use it. Flying that arrival with hundreds of other aircraft closely spaced, in trail, is exactly the kind of situation where automation wins.
If that’s not enough, the controllers I’ve talked to have absolutely loved pilots utilizing Garmin’s FISK arrival procedures. Hard to argue when they like it.
By the way, it’s not a NOTAM, it’s a Notice.