Last week I reported on first impressions of my Garmin 396. Now I will give my impressions of it in flight.

 

I located it in the same provided swivel socket I had my 196 in. I used the same power recepticle (except the 396 charges on ships power) and the same GPS antenna, which I have on the glare shield just behind the windscreen. The Smart Antenna I had to move around to locate as it has a magnetic base and would influence the compass, which I have mounted on the glare shield left on center. I found that  I could put the Smart Antenna in the far right rear of the glare shield, just in
front of the role bar (RV-8), and it had no effect on the compass. Then I used the audio input cable I had previously for a portable radio to connect the 396 XM Radio output to my audio panel jack.

 

I left for Mason City on Friday and started getting used to the screen, setups, winds display, and radio. Screen is VERY readable, just a slight rotation to get rid of glare, but you can even read it with glare. Setup is personal according to where you want to start seeing things on the screen according to range, and to whether you want to see them on the Nav screen or go to the WX menu. Winds aloft are great and allows you to see surface, 3k, 6k, 9k, etc. By zooming in or out,
you can go "in" to see wind barbs or go "out" to see flow patterns at various altitudes coming out of highs or into lows to help with decision making. You have almost 200 channels on the radio to select or scan through to use as background, which the audio panel mutes when there is a radio transmission. Easy to change volume (hit power button, use thumb button left or right, hit enter).

 

After refueling at Iola KS (K88) I headed North. My course line went right through Kansas City airspace, and just to the North of it was a big mass of red, yellow, and green on the 396 nav screen showing NEXRAD. Echo Tops display showed them to be well above where I could fly. Using the winds aloft patterns I decided to go around to the East side of KC and then head for the Northeast corner of the colored mass. As I paralleled the weather, the red, yellow , and green areas on the screen were the same as I was seeing out the window. The greens were light enough rain that I would have gone through if I needed to, whereas the red and yellow had heavy
rain falling out of them. Storm Cells showed the movement. An ocassional lightning bolt was soon registered on the screen. By going around the East side I had a tailwind as shown on the Winds Aloft, whereas the West side would have been a headwind. What I saw on the winds aloft screen was duplicated by my GPS groundspeed. By now I know I have made a GOOD investment. Also, the Airmets and Sigmets were displayed by colored dashed lines, and by running the cusor to the lines and getting a readout, I did not have to try to picture what Flight Watch might have been trying to tell me.

 

Another benefit is the voice warning that accompanies the terrain and obstacle display. While flying at Mason City with a formation of 20 on the wing at 1000', it would visually warn me with an inset on the Nav screen of a tower and voice warn me through me through the audio system. Also in the steep final turn it would say "Rate of descent, Pull up".

 

After the formation clinic on the leg from Mason City to OSH with 12 RVs there were some layered clouds and ceilings. Good chance to check out the METARS flags beside each airfield symbol which has weather reporting. I soon found the the flags and the coded display (when you put the cursor over the flag) is only as good as the time stamp in the display. The weather was moving in from the Northwest and the AWOS reporting into the system is usually only hourly, so it was well behind the voice report coming from the AWOS frequency. Something to take into consideration,
but the TAFs displayed did forecast the trend. So as I got closer to OSH and listened to the AWOSs in range, I could tell it was not as good as the METARS display was telling me and I took the 12-ship down under through a hole early. 

 

On the way home to Texas I was able to take advantage of selecting the right altitude at the right time for the direction by checking the winds aloft patterns. There was a high over KC, and the display for each altitude showed the flow patterns to choose the right altitude. Then passing Dallas going to GTU I could see a big mass of colors South of Waco. By looking at the colors and lightning display I was able to choose where I wanted to go through. As I got closer, looking at the tops sticking up out the window agreeing with the screen display, I was able to select an area
of light green between yellows and reds and I flew through the light rain with good vis and make it to the other side into the clear.

 

Great system which paid off on the first trip. Now, if they would just have a turn on/turn off pay system rather than the monthly fee, I could only pay for it when I needed it.