What will a gps made for cars do in a air plane?

Question

will it still work? will it show roads still? how fast your goin?

Answer 1

The Global Positioning Systems basic technology works the same for aircraft, boats, cars, atvs. They all use the same technology that doesnt care about hieght (so long as you are not orbiting the earth above the GPS satellites, which is impossible for all the vehicles noted).

The differences are:

1. They include maps and charts specific to the kind of vehicle it was designed for. For cars it shows roads. For airplanes and boats it shows the respective (air & sea) navigation aides & beacons.

2. The data processing electronics and circuitry may be more advanced or reliable in aviation or marine devices, since these are considered more critical and may need to meet more exacting FAA standards.

3. The casing and materials used will be different for each based on the environmental hazards that may exist. For a car GPS, the worst that should happen is that you drop the device on the floor.

You could use ANY one of them in ANY vehicle and it will give you the same type of information that it was designed for.

Answer 2

hmm,yes it should still work and show speed...as for the road maps i would say yes,as i dont think hight will make any differance...

Answer 3

It will work.  It is not suitable for air navigation.

Answer 4

Yes it will work. I've brought my StreetPilot on a plane with me many times. It shows speed, altitude, etc. It tends to have problems refreshing fast enough if you're zoomed in to tight. However it works just fine. You may want to turn off the settings that say "Snap to road" so that the pointer doesn't automatically want to follow a road. But it's handy to have on a plane so you can tell where you are, and how far you are from your destination. Certainly helps ease the boredom on a long plane ride.

Answer 5

I think that a "ground positioning system" would work best on the ground.  I'm sure that it would work in a plane but not as good, especially if one is trying to use it as a locator.  But, a plane has more sophisticated systems for that purpose.  I also think that there would be a range limitation and the faster planes that can fly higher may be out of range for a gps to be of any value to the pilot.

Answer 6

It totally depends on the quality of the unit. If it is cheap built and has a low refresh rate, it will not update fast enough to show your true position. The only way to tell for sure is try it.