A glass-panel cockpit is intended to make flying an airplane simpler – and safer – by presenting virtually every bit of information the pilot could ever require during a flight front and center on a single display. In more sophisticated glass cockpits, there are at least two displays: the PFD, primary flight display, that can include the engine instruments, the “six-pack” of flight instruments and communication and navigation information, and the MFD, a multifunction display that’s used for presenting a moving map with overlaid weather, terrain and traffic. There’s an awful lot of information buried in the glass panel of a technically advanced aircraft (TAA) and therein lies the problem. Pilots flying with glass panels, including Garmin’s ubiquitous G1000, Avidyne’s Entegra and Chelton’s FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS system, have at least one thing in common: the need to spend quality time – not just a couple “get acquainted” flights – with the equipment before attempting to venture forth in weather that has the potential to get nasty.
If you’re lucky enough to be the owner of a new glass-cockpit equipped airplane you’ll ideally have completed the manufacturer’s transition course. If you rent an airplane or buy a used airplane that is fitted with a glass cockpit, you owe it to yourself to get some formal training. You can opt to attend a scheduled ground school or enlist the talents of avionics-specific flight instructors. Either way, as Richard suggests, you can prepare for the ground/flight school training by reading the manuals and working with computer simulator programs or training CDs such as the four-hour, two-CD program Flying the G1000 IFR like the Pros! from Flying Like the Pros (flyinglikethepros.com). The Flying Like the Pros CDs offer an excellent ground school course that combines lessons on the operation of the G1000 with techniques for flying IFR, as it says, like a professional.
