The Garmin Aera 560
Garmin continues to show why they have led the handheld Aviation GPS world for so long. This unit is a long way from my original Garmin 195 monochrome GPS that I once had and adored. Let me explain.
On the surface the unit appears to be a Nuvi 4.3 inch wide screen unit (case dims 5.3"W x 3.3"H x .9"D) that you may have used in your car but once powered up the Aera is much more. The Aera 560 comes with the following standard: Touch screen, Color display, Terrain awareness, XM weather capability, information and music functions, WAAS Accurate GPS, AOPA Database with airport layout and safetaxi diagrams, and Automobile mode, and that’s just for starters. The unit has other features including Vnav, low and high airways (V and J), airspace layouts with altitudes, pop up alerts, and intercom integration for audible alerts and XM radio channels. Other great features that the Aera will do but were not tested for this article include traffic display integration and approaches. Note that the Aera, as a handheld unit, is not legal for GPS approaches.
Setup of the Aera
Setting the unit up is very easy. Mount the unit on the pad for use on the glare shield or the yoke mount and simply plug in the 12 volt socket. To attach the weather antenna, just plug that into the back of the unit and move the antenna to a location for an unobstructed view of the sky. Unlike some other weather capable GPS units, the Garmin does not need an XM Weather Works box to operate. This makes the unit very portable especially if you fly other aircraft and want weather capabilities.
Also if you have a RS-232 data device on board, such as a fuel flow computer (in my case a JPI FS-450), Garmin includes the wired loom (one wire connection) for this connection and it is routed into the GPS mount of choice. It is a simple hookup and it will allow the Aera to communicate the signal to the fuel flow computer which will give the pilot (via the fuel flow computer) gallons needed to get to the next waypoint, gallons available at the next waypoint and miles per gallon. Pretty cool stuff.
Lets punch the buttons! (Err.. I meant screen)
I have found the Garmin user interface to always be quite easy. The screen is your keypad with the Garmin Aera. The segments of the screen are easy to touch and use even with my large fingers and if lost in the Aera menus, just go “back” or “home” to start over. Navigating the menus is fairly easy and the pilot will find many of the familiar terms used in aviation or from another GPS.It combines much of the sensibility of the older models with the new technology of today. I powered the unit up and watched it obtain position very quickly while the weather received its first download. Typically weather downloads every five minutes and the Aera can be set to animate the weather which helps the pilot determine if the storm or weather is intensifying and what movement the storm or weather is making. With the XM Aviator weather subscription the Aera will provide winds aloft, lightning strikes, frontal boundaries, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, Echo tops, and PIREPs along with the usual host of NEXRAD radar coverage and precipitation coverage, TFR, METARS and TAFs.
Layering the screens to the right amount of information desired is pretty easy. The pilot can put terrain, topography, and weather all up at the same time or switch them on and off. The pilot can also add and subtract other information like airways and data fields including groundspeed, a fuel timer, distance to the waypoint, time to vnav decent profile, and many more. Customizing the Aera to the profile you prefer or most flown is a great feature that makes the Aera all your own.
Flying with the Aera
I have found that with new electronics / avionics it is really useful and much safer to review the new GPS on the ground in simulator mode and not just adding the GPS to the airplane and flying off. This approach allows the pilot to get comfortable with the menus and routes through the unit before flying. So do yourself and others a favor and play a bit with the unit before flying. You’ll be less likely to get your attention diverted in flight.
I started by entering a flight plan on the ground. It’s a simple procedure that from the home screen is easy to do. Just touch to add a waypoint (an airport, facility, or city) and then enter the particular identifier then touch OK. Add as many 300 waypoints. Then store it for use later or activate it to use for your flight. There is even a way to copy or invert (reverse) flight plans for other trips.
Occasionally rough air presented a challenge when using the unit. The Aera, as a touch screen unit, does not have real push buttons and that sometimes leads the user to touch the wrong item that is desired. Lucky that Garmin requires a sure touch based on pressure on the screen for the unit to react to get the Aera to do what you ask it to do, otherwise I’d be about three menus deep with the bumps. I found that if I left it alone most of the time the Aera will autozoom in and out of my selected airports or waypoints. The Vnav feature is a favorite of mine and allows a constant decent to arrive at a certain altitude over a fix or an airport. This takes the planning out of the decent and also doesn’t rush the pilot for the decent. The Aera creates an automatic calculation based on the parameters entered and the groundspeed, distance from the waypoint and GPS altitude of the airplane in flight. Pretty neat.
However, I’m a button pusher by nature and while in flight I was intrigued about the ability to look at PIREPs by other pilots in Florida where I was flying or elsewhere. I also found myself looking ahead with the ability to see the developing weather from the NEXRAD radar coverage. I found myself reviewing features that can only be tested in flight like the HSI Panel display where a turn coordinator, airspeed (GS), HIS, altimeter (GPS units) and VSI was displayed. It’s pretty sensitive and the information is very accurate. Further the Aeras alerts are great. The audibles are clear and the entertaining one for me was the decent rate profile that was exceeded in a slip during final approach at my home airport causing the Aera to chirp “Pull Up”.
Arriving at an airport is a pleasure with the AOPA airport directory and the airport diagrams. They enlarge and allow the pilot to navigate among the airport with ease. This is especially true at night when trying to find the FBO or a certain spot at the airfield.
Once your flight is complete take the Aera with you and switch to Automobile Mode to get you about town. The Aera has a full automobile database and can be used just like the Nuvi auto GPS units found in most big box stores.
Downsides
Well there are a few. The one at the top of the list is the fee to keep the databases current. Garmin estimates that the cost to keep the unit current for all databases on a yearly basis is $1,030. The upside is that the unit comes with a free year of updates after the purchase. The other thought here is that you may not want all the databases current. For instance the terrain database may not need to be kept as current as mountains don’t move too often. Note that there is a separate database for obstacles. Also Garmin is in the process of bundling databases for the Aera not unlike the 496/495/696/695 models. Expect a reduction in cost for that of nearly 50% similar to the 496 GPS unit.
Another complaint from some pilots I spoke to was the brightness. The unit needs to be bright to work in certain aircraft. If not you’ll find yourself squinting to see what you are looking for and that’s not a good thing to be doing while flying. I did not have this difficulty when using the Aera.
The last possible downside is the inability for the unit to work in a portrait mode, that is to say vertically. Other units are portrayed this way and it would be great for the AERA to switch directions. Though seemly a small downside it would be useful to have the Aera possibly selectable to this mode to allow for a longer range from the top to the bottom of the screen as well as for more confined cockpits.
Price is a factor here. This unit has a MSRP of $2,199. Other units are offering similar functions for a lesser amount. That cost in my world is not easy change to come by. One thing to keep in mind though is that the unit tested is the top of the line Aera, other Aera models are listed for less wirth a few changes to the feature set provided.
The Results
Would I recommend it? Yep (and I’d need to start saving now). It’s a complete, compact, easy to use and easy to transfer from plane to plane system that allows pilots total information for navigation. The Aera 560 is the best of the Aera line offered by Garmin and is worth a look to see if it would fit into the type of flying you do or are looking to do. For more information about the Aera and other Garmin aviation products goto www.garmin.com and click on products and the “in the air” tab.
By Herk Strumpf
About the author: Herk Strumpf is a vintage airplane enthusiast / pilot and button pusher that has been reprimanded in the past for pushing all the buttons in elevators. herkstrumpf@yahoo.com.