Glass cockpit to Vintage Cockpit IFR concern

[minitour]

And what if the guy is never going to fly the "basic 6-pack"? A wise man once said, "Fly as you train, train as you fly."

'Sled

That's amazing that the guy got his private and instrument in a plane with glass...or maybe he did his private in a plane with no instruments other than the required ones (91.205).

I guess it's possible. From what I've seen most "backup" (if you want to call them that) instruments in a glass panel situation are "round dials" (attitude, airspeed and altimeter)...I'm sure there are others, but maybe there could be a requirement in the PTS for the instrument rating to do a Radar approach using just the backup instruments in that case? Kind of like the "GPS approach" requirement...if the aircraft is equipped bla bla...

I dunno. Not saying I've got all of the answers...just an opinion on options.

-mini

 

[Lead Sled]

Ever seen a panel in a T-37 or T-34? It's a shot gun of random instrument placement... guys come out of flying those with NO other experience, and go straight to glass panels with zero transition training... I've never heard anyone say "man I just can't get this thing..."

Actually I have seen the panels of both the T-34 and T-37 and I've never heard anyone say "man I just can't get this thing..." either. I have also provided IOEs to recently retired high-time air force fighter and low-time (2000 hour) Navy P-3 AC pilots, fresh out of FlightSafety and SimuFlite with type-ratings in their pocket, who have struggled with the glass cockpit / FMSes found in the typical bizjet. I'll bet a shiney new quarter that JediNine would agree that it's not the "glass" presentation that's the issue problem - it's getting comfortable with the total flight management and control system and the various interfaces and learning how to operate and use the total package. (That's why he'll probably ending up being very successful with the transition courses that he is developing.) You run into the same issues when you start dealing with differences. For example take a guy who has a boat load of experience in a Lear 31 with UNS1-Cs and throw in an airplane with Globals and he'll struggle for a few hours. It's not that the glass has changed - it hasn't - but the system now operates in a significantly different manner, with different procedures and different capabilities. A significant part of the initial training when you go for type-ratings in aircraft like the Gulfstreams, Challengers, Global Expresses, etc is spent learning the flight management systems (glass cockpit). Most guys will tell you that it takes an experienced pilot 50 to 100 hours in the Gulfstream before he is able to be fully comfortable with the system. Like I said earlier it's not the "glass", it's the total package that comes with it. For most guys, the transition doesn't take long, but safety dictates that you spend a little quality "hands on" time to become "fluent" with the total system.

'Sled