Looking through the glass

Yet the growth has allowed development in so many areas of the cockpit beyond merely ascertaining which way is up. Aviation has seen the information available to the pilot increase dramatically, while the relative cost, size and weight of the equipment have plummeted.

Since its creation in 1989, Garmin has been at the forefront of making this technology accessible to the everyman. For those who sought to fly, satellite navigation became readily available in a world still dominated by compasses and slide rules.

In Garmin’s latest offering, the G1000, the bar has been raised to a new level. It is an integrated flight instrument system that far exceeds the basic requirements of staying upright. Suitable for GA singles and corporate jets alike, advanced navigation, engine monitoring, weather and traffic warning systems are available through two large LCD display units.

The Magic Box

At the heart of the G1000 are two large LCD screens that can vary in size from 10 inches (25cm) up to a mammoth 15. They dominate the flight panel and the absence of all and sundry clocks and dials invariably gives the modern flight panel a very clean look. The system is still supported by the primary standby in the statistically remote event of a dual failure of the screens. However, essentially beyond the screens and standby instruments you may merely find a few switches and circuit breakers. A slim-line integrated nav/comm selector may be added between the units, but everything else is self contained and the clutter is gone.

The two screens, or display units, are known as the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multi Function Display (MFD). Logically, the PFD provides the bulk of flight information and cues in normal operation and sits in front of the pilot. To its right, the MFD provides information on just about everything else – map displays, approach plates, engine monitoring, checklists and so on – you get the picture, it’s ‘multi function’.

The PFD offers flight information in a blend of old and new presentations. At its heart is the Advanced Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS), while on its face a digitally generated attitude indicator is central to the display with a compass rose/HSI situated immediately below. To either side of the attitude indicator are airspeed and altimeter/VSI ‘tapes’ to the left and right respectively. This format has been used for quite some time in airliner flight displays and is fast becoming the standard for all cockpits. This entire array is set to a backdrop of upper blue for sky and lower brown screen for ‘Mother Earth’, unless equipped with Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT).

Additionally, the PFD can be overlaid with a small subsidiary map display in the bottom left corner or flight plan details to the bottom right, replicating what is commonly displayed on the MFD. Other features include a wind vector to warn of those raging tailwinds on base, while the upper edge of the screen avails the selected nav/comm frequencies, autopilot modes, and essential navigation data of distance and bearing to the next waypoint. Along the bottom, outside air temperature, time and transponder codes are presented along a narrow strip. An abbreviated engine display can also be selected. All of the information can be tailored in a manner that the pilot determines to be most appropriate for the phase of flight.

To the right of the PFD, the MFD displays a vast range of information. Usually selected in flight to a ‘moving map’ in conjunction with an abbreviated engine display, the MFD can also offer up approach plates, aerodrome charts, expanded engine monitoring, flight planning formats and procedural checklists amongst other features. When combined with its partnered PFD all variables seem to be covered, while the workload can be further eased by coupling a compatible autopilot to the Garmin system.

The central controls for the units are situated on the slim panels bordering the screens. The commonly used selections such as heading, range, communications frequencies, etc are to be found either side of the screens with larger selectors, while the lower edge of the panel has smaller buttons for less used functions like transponder codes.

In the case of an alternator failure, the G1000 is backed up by the aircraft’s battery and a standalone battery pack dedicated to the unit. For single screen failures, there is also a ‘reversionary mode’ that permits an abbreviated format of the essential flight information to be displayed upon a single screen, and should the unthinkable dual failure occur, you still have the standby clocks and dials.

And there’s even more….

Beyond the core functions of the G1000 PFD and MFD are a sizeable amount of options. Firstly, there is a traffic awareness system that highlights transponder-equipped proximal traffic with a visual warning on the PFD and an audible alert.

There is a choice of electronic charts that can be loaded and amended onboard via memory card slots on the PFD and MFD. Weather can be overlaid on the map display via an up-to-the-minute datalink of information sourced from satellites, radar, TAFs and SIGMETS, which is in turn converted to a pictorial display. The choice of fitting a digital weather radar to interface with the G1000 also exists.

At the forefront of the attention-grabbing extras is the Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT). SVT effectively replaces the PFD’s ‘blue for sky’ and ‘brown for ground’ with a virtual reality, three dimensional portrayal of what lies ahead. In a presentation that leaves most airliners in its wake, the terrain is not only painstakingly represented, but transitions to yellow in a cautionary zone and red when surrounding terrain lies above the aeroplane’s current level. The system provides a tremendous aid to situational awareness when used in conjunction with the traffic advisory system, map display, weather information and let’s not forget, looking out the window.

Flying the G1000

My first experience with the G1000 was when I was called upon to AirTest the Diamond DA40XLS. On first sitting in the aircraft, the two LCD screens demand one’s attention. Their generous dimensions afford an easy to read display, shielded from reflective glare by the instrument combing, while bright enough to remain easily readable in the midday sun.

Any pilots converting to the G1000 will need to do their homework beforehand as navigating the multitude of knobs, displays and functions could well prove the most challenging aspect of the flight. Additionally, the instrument scan will differ for those who have previously only flown an analogue cockpit, given the presence of speed and altitude tapes and the other information that is available across both screens. However, the G1000 will pay back the effort of preparation many times over.

Whilst parked, the MFD’s taxi chart showed where I was situated on the airfield before I was afforded a clear and comprehensive display of both engine indications and the limiting parameters during engine start. Preflight checklists were called up digitally, then as I sat at the holding point, the black and white striped threshold of the runway was replicated as the backdrop for my PFD. Meanwhile the traffic avoidance system alerted me to the aircraft on short final. All of this and I wasn’t even airborne yet!

Accelerating down the runway, the speed tape was pre-programmed with speeds for rotate, best angle and rate of climb which scrolled down as the speed increased. Climbing away, the altitude/VSI tape was easily read and complemented by an altitude selection window where limiting altitudes can be set. Similarly, limiting speeds are displayed as yellow bars on the speed tape. Having had the engine display selected on the MFD for takeoff, this was changed to a map display on leveling out. Combined with the SVT, this was an incredible aid to orientation, but also a tremendous temptation to have the ‘head down’ and ignore the real world outside.

In a particularly advanced aspect of the system the autopilot was coupled to fly an RNAV approach using the SVT’s ‘Pathways’ feature. Displayed on the PFD as a series of ‘flying rectangles’, the aircraft flies through them as if it were flying through a tunnel in space. So impressive was the display that I half expected to look out the windscreen and see the rectangles floating in the real world! It did a tremendous job of flying the approach with power management and flightpath monitoring becoming the main pilot duties as opposed to stick and rudder. It seemed there was very little that the G1000 couldn’t do and I was in a 4 place, single engine aeroplane.

The Way of the Future

We have not seen the last advancements in cockpit technology, but the Garmin G1000 is obviously a massive step forward. With that change exists the human factor issues that accompany any new technology and the G1000 offers so much that it may well tempt the pilot to put in less. Similarly, its amazing SVT may drag the focus more inside the cockpit than is prudent, particularly in the case of VFR flight. However, this is not a fault of the G1000; it is more a warning flag to those bestowed with the responsibility of implementation and training. The technology of the G1000 is there to be embraced. It stands to offer pilots of all levels more information and assistance than previously could have been dreamed of. Ultimately, with the Garmin G1000, we all win.