Glass-Panel Scans

I had the pleasure of lunch several years ago with one of the designers of the Boeing 777 cockpit. She said something that has stuck with me for years: Good design obviates the need for training. Held up to this standard, our efforts for GA glass cockpits are a dismal failure. (Perhaps the 777 cockpit is as well; I dont know.)

jwanwest

Tuesday, December 02, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Glass cockpits require pilots to adapt traditional instrument scans, with the article highlighting specific techniques for maintaining pitch, bank, altitude, and heading using visual cues and display bugs.
Effective glass panel flying extends beyond basic control, emphasizing the integration of "track" for precise navigation and the disciplined organization of secondary displays for rapid information access.
Pilots should maintain hand-flying proficiency, even with autopilots, and exercise strict focus on critical flight parameters during high-workload phases like approaches, avoiding unnecessary distractions.

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I had the pleasure of lunch several years ago with one of the designers of the Boeing 777 cockpit. She said something that has stuck with me for years: “Good design obviates the need for training.” Held up to this standard, our efforts for GA glass cockpits are a dismal failure. (Perhaps the 777 cockpit is as well; I don’t know.)

Looking just at the Primary Flight Display (PFD) portion of a system like the Avidyne Entegra or the Garmin G1000, things fare a bit better. Pilots competent on traditional flight instruments can find most of what they need in a few minutes. Some things take some explaining—”Where’s my rate of turn on this infernal thing?”—but keeping the plane upright is never in doubt.