Nav8tor said:
Same question to you that I asked Troy. Would you be comfortable flying IMC with the amount of training/experience you've had with the 1000?
Total time with the G1K: 6.3 in a 182, 1.2 in a DA40, one approach and some futzing around at OSH last year in Garmin's Frasca.
Answer to the question: A definite yes. Provided your brain speaks Garmin (ie you're good with a 430/530), you really just need to train your brain on the PFD instrument representations, a process which took about 1/2 hour or so under the hood in the DA40.
The biggest thing to get used to is that there's so much information, and it's so accurate, that it's a bit overwhelming at first. You want to chase the AI because you can easily see a 1/2-degree pitch-up, for instance. The other thing is that, like all glass cockpits except the first one (Gulfstream?), the ASI tape seems backwards at first. IE, you're climbing out and you want Vy but you're already going faster than Vy. Vy is lower on the tape than the speed you're going and the natural tendency is to *push* because that's the direction your desired speed is in (Vy is below your current speed on the screen). However, you push and the plane speeds up even more, the oppposite of what you wanted.
There's kind of a progression to the addiction, I mean, uh, learning process:
First, start out with nothing on the PFD but the basics. Get used to the new representations - Stop chasing the AI, get used to the "reversed" ASI. Find the "ball" (a line that's part of the bank index arrow) and the rate-of-turn indication (a purple line and white tick marks along the top of the HSI). I didn't find the altimeter and VSI tough to get used to at all, YRMV. Finally, the HSI is basically exactly the same as a regular HSI except it's just an image on the screen. Oh, and use the transponder - It's quite simple, just press the "XPNDR" soft key at the bottom of the PFD, press "VFR" or "CODE" (and enter the code), then "BACK" to get out of the transponder settings. And BTW, like Garmin's other electronic transponders, this one will automatically turn itself on and off when you take off or land.
Next, don't add anything to the PFD, but start looking at the additional information you're presented with and some of the features that make it easier than regular instruments. For example, you now have an airspeed TREND indicator! There are trend indicators on the other instruments as well. You'll notice your flying becoming more precise because there's less guesswork involved. Get used to being able to simply push the HDG knob to set the bug to your current heading, the fact that you have an altitude bug, and other such features that make flying easier.
Now, pull your Garmin skills out and punch in a flight plan. It's exactly the same as the 430/530, press the "FPL" button and then use the FMS knob just like the knob on the 430/530. When the plan is in and activated, it will be displayed in the lower right portion of the PFD provided that you don't have something else (like NRST or ALERTS) being displayed there.
Then, you can start having fun and adding things to the PFD. You can add an inset map at the lower left; it can show things like traffic, terrain, and weather just like the MFD can but you choose these options separately from the MFD. For instance, you can put terrain on one, NEXRAD on the other, and traffic on both, the possibilities are endless. You can superimpose two RMI pointers on the HSI. Lots of options available, just don't add all of this until you're comfortable with the basics!
Finally, the MFD has a ton of options as well. They can be explored just like a 430/530 using the big FMS knob to select a page group and the small FMS knob to select individual pages. Explore the options available through the soft keys as well.
So... Being comfortable with the 430, I was able to learn all the above in 7.5 flight hours, which included a lot more than just playing with the G1000. Also, while I have a bit over 250 TT and only 7.5 G1000 time, probably 70-80 hours on instruments with only about 1-1.5 on the G1000, if I had to choose whether to go into IMC with the trusty old steam-gauge Archer that most of my instrument time is in or one of the G1000 birds, I'd take the G1000 in a heartbeat. It really is that good.
