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Glass Cockpit Training - Learn to Fly in a Glass Cockpit Aircraftby Max Trescott
But first, just what is a glass cockpit? While there’s no exact definition, most people agree that it’s an airplane equipped with a moving map display and an autopilot. The two most common glass equipped airplanes are the Garmin G1000, used in the popular Cessna 172, and the Avidyne Entegra. Both of these are operated from two large computer-like displays that replace the round gauges traditionally found in aircraft.
Beware too of what your well-meaning, experienced pilot friends advise. Consider that glass cockpit aircraft have only been available for the past several years. Almost all of your friends will have learned in round gauge aircraft and most of them will have little or no experience in glass aircraft. So it shouldn’t surprise you that many of them will advise you to learn in a round gauge airplane, since that’s the way they did it. Of course, they didn’t have a choice when they were learning to fly, but you do! The strongest case to be made for flying older, round gauge aircraft is that they are less expensive. While you may pride yourself on getting a Wal-Mart price on everything you buy, do you really want to brag to your friends about how cheaply you got your pilot’s license? If you needed life saving surgery, you wouldn’t shop to find the lowest cost surgeon. Likewise, being a well-trained pilot that flies good equipment is in your best interest. Learning to fly from the low cost bidder is not!
Benefits of Glass Cockpit AircraftThere are many benefits to flying glass cockpit aircraft. You’ll derive lots of these benefits when you fly on trips after you get your license. But you’ll get far more out of these systems on those trips if you’ve done most of your pilot training in them. An immediate benefit during training is that glass equipped aircraft are equipped with traffic advisory systems, while most older aircraft are not. These systems constantly alert you to the presence of most—though not all—nearby aircraft, thus increasing your safety margin whenever you fly. Having had a few close encounters with other aircraft, my personal preference is to always fly with traffic advisory systems. Another reason to train in glass aircraft is that you also have the opportunity to learn to fly with round gauges at the same time. The reason is that glass aircraft include three round gauges that are used if all of the computer displays were to fail. During training, your instructor is likely to turn off the computer displays and teach you to fly and land the airplane on ONLY these three gauges, which is trickier than using the six gauges found in older aircraft. So by learning in a glass cockpit aircraft, you can actually learn to fly both kinds of aircraft. The same cannot be said about learning to fly in older aircraft. You might also ask your instructor about flying both kinds of aircraft during your flight training. For example if you choose to learn in glass panel aircraft, take two of your lessons in a round gauge aircraft or vice versa. Don’t split your time 50-50 between the aircraft, however, as you’ll want to develop a deep familiarity with the type you’ll ultimately use for your checkride. Now you have some facts about choosing the airplane in which you’ll learn to fly. The next step is easy. Visit a flight school, take a demo flight, and choose a knowledgeable instructor. Have fun and fly safely! ### Publisher's Note: - Max Trescott holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is an FAA Gold Seal Certified Flight Instructor. He is recognized by the National Association of Flight Instructors as a Master CFI. He's a past President of Los Medicos Voladores or "Flying Doctors", and regularly flew volunteer medical teams to Mexico in his Cessna T210. An avid writer, he publishes he Pilot Safety News, an online newsletter, and has authored flying articles at Avweb.com, InFlight USA magazine and the National Association of Flight Instructors Mentor magazine. Max is also the founder of Glass Cockpit Publishing and has authored Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook and CD ROM Course. It is our privilege to present regularly featured articles by Max Trescott on Flight-Training-Info.com as he is considered to be the foremost authority on flight training in and piloting of Glass Cockpit equipped general aviation aircraft.
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When you learn to fly, choosing whether or not to learn in a glass cockpit aircraft may be one of the decisions you make. It’s an important and deeply personal choice, so don’t let someone else make it for you!
