Rather than sweat out learning a navigator on the fly, Garmin owners can use any of the three computer-based programs reviewed here.

by Jane Garvey

It’s hard to believe the ceaseless predictions of GA’s impending demise when you learn that there are now more than 40,000 Garmin GNC530 and 430 units in the field. A significant percentage of those are dual installations, of course, but that’s still a big crowd of individual pilots buzzing around trying to make a nice toy jump through its considerable hoops.

While the primary functions of these boxes aren’t difficult to learn, mastery and recall of the higher tasks can be distressingly fleeting, particularly for those who don’t fly every day. The operational logic of these navigators isn’t what we would call intuitive. Sometimes you need the little knob,…