G1000, Here I Come

In an earlier post, I wrote about my flight with a CFI from Angel Air to brush up on crosswind landings. Today, he told me that he was very comfortable with my flying and that I can get checked out in the G1000 with one hour ground and one hour checkout!

We spent about 20 minutes going over a brand new (only 30.4 hours!!!) 172's G1000. It's straight forward and he was surprised how quickly I situated myself. Me too. If you're used to Garmin 430, it's pretty straightforward. I really like how the transponder automatically goes from standby to ALT. Well, I also like the XM radio, terrain avoidance/warning system, integrated radar and uh...EVERYTHING. Plus, the new plane smell is OH SO FINE.

It's going to be a real shock to get back in a crap weasel Cadet for my instrument check ride. The good thing: If you can fly a mangy, crap aircraft with 20,000 flight hours well, you can fly anything well.

When I first got checked out there, I needed 3 hours ground/3 hour flight to get checked out in the G1000. That kept me from doing it. 1/1 is much easier to swallow. Since their G1000's only cost $10 more per hour, I'm going to do it in the next week or so. There's no sense in doing it before the trip to California. NexRad, traffic and terrain avoidance would be nice, but I wouldn't be ready for IFR conditions in it. The one thing I think will be most challenging to get used to with the G1000 is scanning technique.