How many 150/152's are set up for real IFR training? I sure never saw any when I was teaching in CO... It usually had to be at least a decent 172 or Cherokee/Archer... (Not saying there aren't any- just suggesting they may be few and far between..) /QUOTE]
People don't put money into the panels of 150/152s around here because you'll take 30 minutes getting high enough to shoot the ILS 35R at KAPA in the summer.
And in this day and age, getting some GPS and "glass" experience should be part of IFR training... again, not something you will find in the average 152.
Disagree. That's called "transition" training or "aircraft familirization". If a candidate shows up and is flying only steam gauge aircraft they shouldn't need to show any proficiency with an overpriced Garmin box at all.
Alternatively, I'm sure there will be glass-only pilots in a few years who'd auger in, in a steam-gauge aircraft.
I agree with you that I shouldn't be able to go plow into hard IMC single-pilot IFR in a G1000 aircraft the day after taking a checkride in my steam gauge 182, if I have zero G1000 time, but that's between me and the owner and the insurance company.
Tech is changing too fast to teach to a specific cockpit unless the FAA is going to set some standards for how information on these screen-based devices is presented and retrieved and how the UI must operate.
Considering that there are still specific questions about which direction one should turn an RMI knob on the written test, I don't doubt that they'd love to do just that, though. "Turn knob left on ancient gear almost no one has anymore, and if that's the wrong direction, turn it right," apparently isn't good enough to prove one has appropriate knowledge to fly via instrumentation.
Don't give them any ideas.
The FAA making assumptions about how manufacturers will build their IFR systems as the FAA closes down their highly-standardized one, is entertaining. I get a chuckle out of the HSI questions on the instrument written.
I've flown an HSI in a simulator. As a non-professional pilot and GPS moving map tech taking over, the chances I'll ever see a real mechanical one in any aircraft I fly are about zero. A fake screen-based depiction of one if I were to select that display mode, maybe.
Can't be all that long until voice recognition is involved, for example. A Com radio could easily copy frequency changes today. I talk to my cell phone and tell it "Call Karen Duehr -- Mobile" or "Call 303 555 1212" every day with a bad audio quality Bluetooth speakerphone and the window open at highway speeds.
How are they going to give written tests on that?
