Can you fly VFR with GPS?

Many pilots use GPS as an aid to visual flight rules (VFR) navigation. The key word is aid, because VFR means seeing the terrain well enough to confirm your position on a map. Avionics used for VFR do not check for errors in satellite signals, so your GPS position could be bad.



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I've used cell phone gps on planes successfully. I'm sure my watch would work too. It's just getting a signal in the back of a passenger jet is hard (easier in a window seat) and getting an initial fix will take a long time. If you have internet connectivity, gps will work.

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Yes, you can shoot a VOR approach with GPS only as long as the title of the approach is titled, VOR/GPS. To count the approach as a VOR approach on an FAA flight test will require that the VOR be tuned to the appropriate station and identified.

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When a VOR is decommissioned, it is replaced with a GPS-based intersection and GPS-based airways. Sometimes the DME is retained even if the VOR is removed.

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The primary causes of GPS denial include interference, spoofing, signal blockage and GPS constellation failure.

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As long as the GPS unit is off, there should be no issues with having it on the plane.

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Well, as most of you under the FARs are aware—not to say used to—in the United States it is perfectly legal to fly VFR without any visual contact with the ground. As long as you maintain the minimum VFR requirements regarding visibility and cloud clearances, you are good to go—all you need is a natural horizon.

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Ground-based navigation equipment is not required for en route IFR RNAV operations when using GPS WAAS navigation systems. To use GPS for IFRapproaches, you must use GPS avionics that are properly approved and installed, and all approach procedures to be flown must be retrievable from the airborne navigation database.

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