G1000 Check out

Well now I know why it is called the G1000 because that is how much it
costs to get checked out in one.

This afternoon I finished my checkout in a G1000 equipped Diamond Star (
180 HP four place). That was my excitement for New Years Eve. After
finishing this posting I will be headed to bed.....

I attended a two hour ground session on the G1000 and associated KAP140
Auto Pilot, then scheduled the necessary flights. I must say the G1000
is a joy to fly and the KAP 140 is a pain in the ass.
Situational awareness is awesome. One problem, too much head in the
cockpit. There is a lot to look at and comprehend. Very different from
flying steam gauges.

My first problem flying the airplane was the airspeed tape. It was
counter intuitive. The Altitude tape is intuitive. Raise the nose to get
higher on the scale and lower the nose to get lower on the scale.
The airspeed tape you need to lower the nose to get to a higher
indication on the tape and raise the nose to get a lower indication on
the tape. Yeah I know raising the nose to slow down and lowering it to
speed up is basic. However when your are looking at the tape it is not.
Setting up flight plans and approaches is strait out of the 430/530.

Once set up in cruise you can play with all the other toys. XM weather
and radio, all the info available about the destination airport or any
other one you choose. The destination one is automatic.
Auto Ident on nav frequencies. TIS, Terrain warning, Topo, airways it is
all there and much more.

The Auto-pilot is another story.
The HDG,NAV and APR button work as one would expect. However altitude
navigation is confusing. I am still not sure i have it all figured out.
The ALT button toggles between alt hold and Vertical speed modes but not
all the time.
The auto-pilot seems like it is on but is really in standby mode. It
should indicate it is in standby mode but it does not. I started pushing
buttons and nothing happened.
Several times during our approach into Charlottesville,VA the autopilot
kicked off line. Too much trim operation. We were getting tossed around
a bit and it was working hard. i left it offline the last time and hand
flew the rest of the approach. This was my first time flying a coupled
approach.

A few more flights with someone to look for traffic and cumulus granitus
and I should be all set. Anyone want to be scared to death and ride shotgun?
Michelle

A few more flights with someone to look for traffic and cumulus granitus
and I should be all set. Anyone want to be scared to death and ride shotgun?
Michelle

If I wasn't 400 mile away, I would ask "What time do I have to be at the
airport?"

I think you meant to say, Hand flew a flight director on
approach... a coupled approach is with the autopilot flying.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Michelle" wrote
in message
k.net...
| Well now I know why it is called the G1000 because that is
how much it
| costs to get checked out in one.
|
| This afternoon I finished my checkout in a G1000 equipped
Diamond Star (
| 180 HP four place). That was my excitement for New Years
Eve. After
| finishing this posting I will be headed to bed.....
|
| I attended a two hour ground session on the G1000 and
associated KAP140
| Auto Pilot, then scheduled the necessary flights. I must
say the G1000
| is a joy to fly and the KAP 140 is a pain in the ass.
| Situational awareness is awesome. One problem, too much
head in the
| cockpit. There is a lot to look at and comprehend. Very
different from
| flying steam gauges.
|
| My first problem flying the airplane was the airspeed
tape. It was
| counter intuitive. The Altitude tape is intuitive. Raise
the nose to get
| higher on the scale and lower the nose to get lower on the
scale.
| The airspeed tape you need to lower the nose to get to a
higher
| indication on the tape and raise the nose to get a lower
indication on
| the tape. Yeah I know raising the nose to slow down and
lowering it to
| speed up is basic. However when your are looking at the
tape it is not.
| Setting up flight plans and approaches is strait out of
the 430/530.
|
| Once set up in cruise you can play with all the other
toys. XM weather
| and radio, all the info available about the destination
airport or any
| other one you choose. The destination one is automatic.
| Auto Ident on nav frequencies. TIS, Terrain warning, Topo,
airways it is
| all there and much more.
|
| The Auto-pilot is another story.
| The HDG,NAV and APR button work as one would expect.
However altitude
| navigation is confusing. I am still not sure i have it all
figured out.
| The ALT button toggles between alt hold and Vertical speed
modes but not
| all the time.
| The auto-pilot seems like it is on but is really in
standby mode. It
| should indicate it is in standby mode but it does not. I
started pushing
| buttons and nothing happened.
| Several times during our approach into Charlottesville,VA
the autopilot
| kicked off line. Too much trim operation. We were getting
tossed around
| a bit and it was working hard. i left it offline the last
time and hand
| flew the rest of the approach. This was my first time
flying a coupled
| approach.
|
| A few more flights with someone to look for traffic and
cumulus granitus
| and I should be all set. Anyone want to be scared to death
and ride shotgun?
| Michelle

Jim Macklin wrote:
I think you meant to say, Hand flew a flight director on
approach... a coupled approach is with the autopilot flying.


Jim,
It was fully coupled. I managed the power only.
LOC and GS were flown by the autopilot.
Michelle

Thought you said you had turned the AP off, auto-throttles
are not too common on small aircraft. It is fun to watch
just how good a good autopilot can fly the airplane.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Michelle" wrote
in message
k.net...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| I think you meant to say, Hand flew a flight director on
| approach... a coupled approach is with the autopilot
flying.
|
|
| Jim,
| It was fully coupled. I managed the power only.
| LOC and GS were flown by the autopilot.
| Michelle

Plase I went to just put you under the hood solved & the problem of to much
time inside the cockpit.

One problem, too much head in the
cockpit. There is a lot to look at and comprehend. Very different from
flying steam gauges.

Michelle wrote:

The Auto-pilot is another story.
The HDG,NAV and APR button work as one would expect. However altitude
navigation is confusing. I am still not sure i have it all figured out.
The ALT button toggles between alt hold and Vertical speed modes but not
all the time.

I have about 400 hours behind a KAP140 in a C172SP, the last being about a
year and a half ago. IIRC, the first time you hit the ALT button, this
engages the vertical speed hold. If you hit the ALT button again, it will
engage the altitude hold. Hit the ALT again and it toggles back to VS
hold.

The only time this ALT toggle shouldn't work is when the AP is in APR mode
and you have captured the glideslope. Not sure why this ALT/VS toggle
didn't work for you every time other than in APR mode.

The auto-pilot seems like it is on but is really in standby mode. It
should indicate it is in standby mode but it does not.

If no mode lights are illuminated on the face of the unit, it is in what
you are calling "standby mode."

I started pushing buttons and nothing happened.

You need to first hold the AP button for three or four seconds to engage
the AP (at which time it will engage wing leveler mode). At that point you
can then select the mode you desire.

This engage delay was purposely introduced by Bendix King approximately
five years ago in response to a C182 accident in England where the pilot
mistakenly engaged the AP on the ground when his knuckle hit the AP button
as he slid the throttle forward during the run-up (the investigation
surmised).

At that point, the AP dialed full nose up trim without the pilot's
knowledge. He took off, the aircraft immediately went nose-up, stalled,
then went straight into the runway. The accident killed the married
couple.


--
Peter

Michelle wrote:
A few more flights with someone to look for traffic and cumulus granitus
and I should be all set. Anyone want to be scared to death and ride shotgun?

I'm in! I'm not current though... :^( , but if you just need a
pair of eyes and someone that'll land the plane if push comes to shove,
I'm your man! And lunch is on me!

The Monk

Michelle wrote:
A few more flights with someone to look for traffic and cumulus granitus
and I should be all set. Anyone want to be scared to death and ride shotgun?


I'm in! I'm not current though... :^( , but if you just need a
pair of eyes and someone that'll land the plane if push comes to shove,

I'm your man and lunch is on me! email me your phone number if it's a
go.
chaisone(at)yahoo.com Change [ at to @ :^) ]

The Monk

Huh?

"NW_PILOT" wrote in message ...
Plase I went to just put you under the hood solved & the problem of to much
time inside the cockpit.

One problem, too much head in the
cockpit. There is a lot to look at and comprehend. Very different from
flying steam gauges.