Garmin 430 and 530 basics

Some may find it hard to believe, but I still run across pilots that have no experience with the Garmin 430 and 530 equipment.  Not that everyone has experience with these systems, but with the proliferation of these units through the early 2000's, most pilots know what they are, and have likely been in an aircraft with one installed.

These pieces of equipment have been out for quite some time, but there are still pilots that are just starting to think about getting a GPS in their aircraft, and these units provide probably the lowest cost of entry these days that will allow a pilot to get a great moving map GPS that can be approved for IFR approaches.

I put together a quick cheat sheet for the first time pilot that wants to just fly their aircraft and get used to the functions of the GPS.

Communication Side----------------Navigation Side

Setup Navigation to an airport

• Press “Direct To” Button
• Use the knobs to enter the airport identifier
•  Each airport starts with a K
•  No “K” if the airport has a number in it. (ie. C09)
• The large knob moves the cursor
•  The small knob makes letters
• Press Enter TWICE

Find Nearest airports (In an emergency)

• Rotate the large knob on the right side - all the way to the right until you see NEAREST

Reset unit to default screen

• Press and hold the CLR button
• Rotate little knob on the right, one click to the right