GARMIN INREACH MINI 2
Thanks for the article on the Garmin inReach Mini 2 in the August 2022 Aviation Consumer. I have one and never leave home without it.
I disagree with your decision to keep the PLB (personal locator beacon) as your primary form of emergency communication. Your concern about keeping the subscription up to date is real, but I don’t change the service ever, my bank makes the payments automatically and I’m leaving tracks all the time—at 10-minute intervals—to verify its operation.
You can’t say that about your PLB, and you don’t really know that it still works.
More important, when you activate it, you won’t know if it worked. And even if it did, you wouldn’t know if a rescue is 10 minutes away, if they’re going to wait for first light tomorrow morning or if they have to wait for the weather to clear. That’s important information that changes how you handle the situation at your end.
The inReach allows immediate feedback and interaction with the rescuers that allows you to help in the planning of your rescue by letting the rescuers know your status and resources.
You may think it better to have the call go directly to the government rescue center. Personally, I would rather have an intermediary reminding them that this is not one of the many accidental PLB and ELT actuations they “cleared” an hour ago. It’s a genuine and continuing emergency.
And finally, if you or I are not able to activate the SOS signal on our respective devices, yours will show nothing while mine will show my position, direction, speed and altitude within the last 10 minutes.
Mike Koerner – via email
To each his own, and you make some good points. We’re planning a follow-up on the rescue topic, but after flying with the inReach Mini 2 for a while, we’re not giving up our PLB any time soon. The inReach requires yet another data subscription, it’s another portable device to keep track of and it’s another gadget to keep charged. For those who fly within cell coverage, we think it has a limited mission.
TRIG’S NEW VHF RADIOS
I enjoyed Larry Anglisano’s thorough review of the Trig TX56/57 navcomm radios in your September 2022 issue, and after getting a demo at AirVenture last summer and listening to Larry’s logical conclusion, I ordered one for my Cessna 152.
I’ve been going back and forth for over a year trying to decide if I should install Garmin’s GNC 255 GPS/comm navigator, but determined that while it’s a lot of capability, the extra money (my shop quoted me nearly $10,000 total after installation) just doesn’t make sense for my VFR mission. While I do plan to do some IFR proficiency work, I’ll never really fly this airplane hard IFR.
For navigating, I have a Garmin aera 660 portable GPS installed in the panel and always fly with my iPad running Garmin Pilot. The Trig radios seem to make good sense for training and occasionally sliding down the ILS at my home drone.
Ed Zenisky -via email