On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:37:26 GMT, "A. Smith"
wrote:


Transitioning to, or learning on a glass panel does not need to be
difficult or take hours and hours of training. To do so means some
very important steps have been left out of the learning cycle, or the
cycle was not taken in logical order.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

I don't know that I can agree with you Roger. I recently had a chance to
fly a Cessna 421C with the Chelton Synthetic Vision TM installed. I had no
previous experience with EFIS and had only a short time to read the basics
out of the manual. My flight was about 1 1/2 hours in VFR and I had a

You are pointing out just what I said. The problems come when the
transition is attempted to be made in total instead of incrementally.

The learning pilot, whether IFR or primary student doesn't have these
problems, or shouldn't if the training on the glass panel is done
incrementally.

I like Michael's use of the Cirrus. It's an oft misunderstood
aircraft that is treated like other fixed gear aircraft when it should
be treated like high performance retracts without the option of using
the gear to slow down.

safety pilot with me to watch for traffic as I knew I would be head down and
locked for a good portion of the time. The system presents an overwhelming
amount of information and it is shown in an unfamiliar format. I know it
would take me another 5-10 hours of flight time with the system before I
would be launching into any IFR flight that required an approach. I have a
good amount of time in the Cessna 421C so flying the aircraft is not a
problem, interpreting and following the EFIS is.

This is where trying to take in a complex system all at once is a poor
way to go. We don't teach computers that way and the glass cockpit
should not be taken on in that manner either.

As I said earlier, taken in a logical order although the logic might
vary some between pilots. Pilots and CFIs are not normally computer
people. They have a tendency, or I should say they feel an absolute
need to know the entire system before starting out. FBOs and
insurance companies tend to be the same. It's the wrong way to go.

First, Basic flight and engine instruments with basic radio and nav.
(no flight plans) to begin. Then GPS and moving map and on up the
chain.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com




With all that being said the system is wondeful with what it can do and I
believe it is the way of the future. The only problem I see is pilots like
me who grew up on the gauges switching over to the tubes. The company that
owns the aircraft plans on putting it on a FAR 135 certificate. I am going
to try to follow it's progress to see if the FAA requires any special
training.

Allen