Never been a fan of the G1000...

…for initial instrument training, or primary flight training. I’ve heard other instructors talk about it, and I got to experience it for myself recently. I’ve done a few flights with a gentleman who’s a commercial pilot, but hasn’t flown in a bit over a year. He did most of his training in G1000 equipped airplanes, and now he’s flying a “six pack” or “round-dial” airplane with me for a few hours.


He’s a really decent guy, but when it comes to flying the “six pack” airplanes, his situational awareness needs a lot of work. On a recent cross country flight, he had difficulty flying perpendicular to a runway before lining up on final approach. For those familiar with aviation, he couldn’t fly a proper base leg when instructed to do so by tower. He also had some trouble following simple taxi instructions using just the airport signs. I found out that his previous airplanes had G100’s that also had airport diagrams on the screen, so he had become accustomed to following the screen.


Those first two examples MAY possibly be excused because of an unfamiliar airport. There’s no excuse for this last example. He opted to do an ILS approach just for fun, and did a pretty good job of maintaining the assigned heading and altitude (less 100ft for some reason). It all went titts up once on the localizer though. For the uninitiated, the ILS has a localizer beam to keep us on the extended runway centerline, and a glideslope beam to guide us to the proper touchdown spot. In short order, we are 3 dots deflected to the right, and the heading is some 20 degrees left of the front course. What that means is that the instruments show the runway way off to our right, and we’re flying to the left- away from the runway. Our vertical situation is no better. We’re high, and climbing.


I point this out to him, and ask why he has difficulty flying the approach. His answer is that he is unfamiliar with the “round gauge” ILS indication. I’m shocked. The airplane has an absolutely standard ILS indication, and it works just fine.


Now, would he have performed better in a G1000? I hope so. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. If I wasn’t sure before, now I am. The G1000 is an amazing bit of equipment. I love flying it, but it just isn’t suitable for primary or initial instrument training, because students get overly dependent on it. Learn how to fly a standard “six pack”, the move to the G1000. you’ll find it much easier than the other way around.