Tips on transitioning from steam six pack to EFIS

cruiserandmax

cruiserandmax

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cruiserandmax
I have spent the past 10+ years flying VFR/IFR in a 182 behind a "steam" six pack, with a Garmin (Apollo) GNS 480/Stec 55X fully coupled autopilot (20+ years before that behind "steam" gauges and VOR/ILS/DME equipment with no AP). It's looking like I may soon be flying behing a G500 PFD/MFD combined with a GNS430. The 430 will be a step backward from the 480, but the G500 will be a huge leap forward from the traditional steam six pack I am used to flying behind.

Are there any general tips on how best to acclimate to the the new EFIS type display? ASI, VSI, turn & bank, and glideslope all feel "weird" in the new display format..
 
Redo your instrument scan for IMC. Whatever worked for you before will be totally different now. Also, learn your failure modes anew.

Is this a 500+steam or fully glass? Synthetic vision? Congratulations on the upgrade, btw.
 
Be patient. Give it time. From what I've seen, the weird feeling of the scan is the most minor part of the transition and happens surprisingly quickly. Single biggest scan issue is altitude. In cruise, analog gives us a dual and pointer where we mentally think in terms of "a little high" or "a little low" and correct without really having to read the numbers. The vertical tape is nothing but numbers. That's why most recommend alway bugging altitude. It gives us a pointer to fly up or down to. The related issue is the precision of the digital display. With analog we're happy with "about" because that's really all analog gives us. But with the precision of the digital display many have a tendency to be unnecessarily exact. Kind of like the difference between the answer to "what time is it?" Being different with an analog clock than a digital display.

Those are just time and practice with the amount of both varying very widely, but generally pretty quickly. Best bet, fly with a CFI with experience in the system. If you can't find one, at least use a safety pilot because you will be distracted from the task of flying.

More important than the scan, though, is to take the time to run scenarios to check how it functions and how it integrates with your system, both normally and in its failure modes. You can see in this forum where people with advanced avionics sometimes know little about them than the bare basics. That's not a good idea with a PFD which integrates multiple functions.
 
It can take a little time to learn the new scan. Best time to learn is in good weather.
 
At first, de-clutter the display as much as possible. You can easily add info as you become accustomed to it.

Scanning engine parameters is soooooo much easier than looking around at multiple dials.
 
Back when I was working for the man, I was presented with an almost zero time bird. It was intercepted on its way to our UK group and it was mine. First to go was the "G" registration on its side, then the warning/caution lights went back to the FAA color config. Then a tech plugged a laptop in her and changed her glass from UK/CAA back to US/FAA. A year later (about 750 hrs later) I was still on the backup steam gauge ASI for take offs.
 
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Going through it now with a G1000. For me, it's been a bit of a mystery.

What I've settled on that seems to be working for me is a copy of Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit book + x-plane + a simionic bezel with the g1000 apps. That's $800 setup plus an old ipad, so I'm hesitant to recommend it. But it's working for me, I think better than 5 hours in the airplane would.

I only pulled the trigger because I've been looking at the bezel as a training aid for CAP, so there are other uses for me.
 
I regularly use both. It is much easier to learn on a six pack and transition to glass than the other way, which is why I learned on a six pack. The information from glass tapes is presented in a superior manner to a six pack, though I prefer the round VSI to the Garmin pink line. The key on round gauges is that you really have to do a conscious scan around the instruments, instead of just being able to reference things close together. I find myself incorporating the GPS A lot more into my scan on round gauges than I do on glass. The ground track cross reference is quite valuable
 
Well the first thing your going to have to start doing is dressing a bit nicer and shaving some things your not used to.
 
It's funny what we gravitate toward.
I've got steam airspeed and altimeter dials to back up the glass, and I tend to use the old school altimeter but the EFIS's airspeed readout.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
It's funny what we gravitate toward.
I've got steam airspeed and altimeter dials to back up the glass, and I tend to use the old school altimeter but the EFIS's airspeed readout.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I found the same when transitioning to dual G5s. The airspeed tape was pretty easy to adjust to, and I actually like it, but my scan still wants to use the round-dial altimeter instead of the altitude tape. I'll get there eventually.

I'm still conditioned to seeing small altitude trend changes on the VSI and altimeter. However, If you set the altitude bug on a G5 and just keep it on the screen, you will be within +/- 100 feet or so. If you keep the bug from wandering off the index more than a bug width or two, and it moves quickly with small deviations, you can really pin the altitude. It's a far cry from my IR training 30+ years ago.
 
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