There has been a great deal of discussion about the difficulty, or lack of it, of transitioning from conventional flight instruments to flat-panel primary flight displays (PFD). Many also worry that new instrument pilots who learn on a PFD will find it very difficult to fly safely with a conventional round dial set of gyros and air data instruments.
To my knowledge there has been no conclusive study that shows competent instrument pilots have problems going between flat glass and conventional instruments. I know that I have not experienced a problem flying whatever is in front of me. In fact, my very first flight with a PFD was in the Gulfstream IV, the first civilian airplane to have such a display, and the weather was 400-feet overcast. So in a few seconds after rotation I was on solid instruments with a totally new type of display, and it felt perfectly natural.
