Learning new avionics

4

4RNB

Line Up and Wait
PoA Supporter
Joined
May 24, 2016
Messages
962
Display Name
Display name:
4RNB
Situation: Completion of avionics upgrade is hopefully around the corner. (G3x, 750 GPS, gfc 500 AP)

Background: I am a 250 ish hr pilot. Instrument rated in August 2022, plane then immediately in to avionics shop. Only some chair flying in FAA legal sim, which might keep my head in the game a bit, legal, but I'll make no claim of proficiency. The bulk of my flying has been in one plane in one configuration. I've never had to adjust to other planes.

Assessment: I need to be careful in new plane, especially in marginal flight conditions.

Help!

I took a garmin class last fall, but not applied anything. My plan as my avionics finish up is to watch available classes online. I'd like to develop my own checklists to focus on. The instrument ACS can serve as a nice guide to go through, along with any ground tests in the equipment manuals. I do not know of GPU availability so much of this will be done in the air. I'd like help on things to focus on. I will likely hire a CFI to help.

Any thoughts on what to make sure I learn? I don't know what I don't know.

My thoughts:
Programming all flavors of approaches, SIDS/STARS, holds. Buttonology of go arounds both with and without TOGA.
Changing radios manually and using tech.
Transponder programming.
PFD-changing screens for various phases of flight.
Setting up preferred engine monitoring and alarms
Changing flight plan mid air
Changing heading and altitude while using AP, where can it be done from and making sure it happens.
The autopilot is what most concerns me. I need to develop a much better understanding of various modes.

What else? Thank you.
 
Congratulations, that is a top notch panel and you're going to love it!

I can't help with the g3x, but I recently added a gfc500 and dual g5's. The steam to glass transition was far easier than expected. I had the security blanket of my old asi and altimeter, but it only took about 15m to ignore them and use the g5. Much easier in imc. Wish now I had gotten the g3x as that g5 is pretty small for my aging eyes. Someday.

The gfc500 is super intuitive. I was worried about learning it, but it's a piece of cake. Vnav was the only thing that took a bit of figuring out, but that's not a critical feature to have at first. Same for the 750; looks intimidating, but it's stone simple to use.

Your avionics shop will definitely have shore power; if you're anywhere close to them, I'd encourage you to go sit in the plane and play with your new hardware for a couple hours. You could do this on pickup day as well. Time in the plane thumbing through the manuals and pushing buttons while not flying the plane will go a long way.

Otherwise I think you'll find it much easier than you expect. Take the plane up in vmc, play with the avionics until you can comfortably work with flight plans, autopilot modes and approaches. Then do an IPC as your "final exam" and you'll be good to go.
 
4RNB said:
Situation: Completion of avionics upgrade is hopefully around the corner. (G3x, 750 GPS, gfc 500 AP)

Background: I am a 250 ish hr pilot. Instrument rated in August 2022, plane then immediately in to avionics shop. Only some chair flying in FAA legal sim, which might keep my head in the game a bit, legal, but I'll make no claim of proficiency. The bulk of my flying has been in one plane in one configuration. I've never had to adjust to other planes.

Assessment: I need to be careful in new plane, especially in marginal flight conditions.

Help!

I took a garmin class last fall, but not applied anything. My plan as my avionics finish up is to watch available classes online. I'd like to develop my own checklists to focus on. The instrument ACS can serve as a nice guide to go through, along with any ground tests in the equipment manuals. I do not know of GPU availability so much of this will be done in the air. I'd like help on things to focus on. I will likely hire a CFI to help.

Any thoughts on what to make sure I learn? I don't know what I don't know.

My thoughts:
Programming all flavors of approaches, SIDS/STARS, holds. Buttonology of go arounds both with and without TOGA.
Changing radios manually and using tech.
Transponder programming.
PFD-changing screens for various phases of flight.
Setting up preferred engine monitoring and alarms
Changing flight plan mid air
Changing heading and altitude while using AP, where can it be done from and making sure it happens.
The autopilot is what most concerns me. I need to develop a much better understanding of various modes.

What else? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Upgrade from what? Steam to GPS? 430 to 750? No autopilot to GFC? Some other autopilot? etc. Narrow the range down. It’ll help you get good info
 
luvflyin said:
Upgrade from what? Steam to GPS? 430 to 750? No autopilot to GFC? Some other autopilot? etc. Narrow the range down. It’ll help you get good info
Click to expand...

I had dual G5s and a garmin 175 GPS, trutrak vizion AP.
Garmin AP modes/phraseology is the newest to me.
 
4RNB said:
I had dual G5s and a garmin 175 GPS, trutrak vizion AP.
Garmin AP modes/phraseology is the newest to me.
Click to expand...
That should help you get more useful info. Not from me, I have no experience with any of those units. You may want to edit it into your OP
 
Congrats on the avionics upgrade!

I would grab a safety pilot just for eyes out while you work through the "buttonology" and get actual hands on the unit in VFR conditions. Spending some time on the sim for your unit will also help learn the flow. I know if I'm not flying on a regular basis I need to get in the air and push buttons to refresh the flow with the GPS and autopilot. Current is always a good thing to put in the log book but keeping proficient on all the what if's is what saves your bacon when it counts.
 
It takes time, and I ended up creating my own checklist.

For example I forget setting of the altitude limit all the time.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
It takes time, and I ended up creating my own checklist.

For example I forget setting of the altitude limit all the time.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by altitude limit?
 
You might find this 3-part series "Modern Avionics and the Instrument Pilot" useful:

... it was largely filmed with a G3X/GTN/GFC500 aircraft... a great combo.
Happy to help with any questions and transition concerns,
Wayne
 
I tried figuring out my new avionics in a borrowed hangar but got nowhere without gps satellite signals

there’s probably a simulation mode in the garmin but I didn’t have time to figure it out

Fwiw
 
Practice until using it becomes muscle memory. Use the Garmin simulators as much as you then go burn a bunch of gas. You don’t want to be figuring out your new buttons in real IMC.
 
One of the things I do is train pilots with their new avionics. It's turned out to be a big part of the work I do with owner pilots, never mind the folks transitioning into my club's G1000 aircraft from steam gauges. This is from that perspective.

There is a huge personal component to the value of self training. There's a small minority who can read a few books watch a few videos, play with the available trainer (@Jim Carpenter, unfortunately there is not one for the G3X, although. except for the touchscreen, the GDU 700L will be similar in a lot of respects) and learn the system pretty well. Then there are others who haven't even figured out that all the Garmins follow the same logic and have only a few real differences. That has nothing to do with intelligence or smarts. I know extremely intelligent people who still haven't figure out the menus in a Windows program start with File | Edit. It just does not mentally...um...compute.

You already said that you will work with a CFI. Great. Your best bet is an an instructor who understands the system well to guide you through the process. I usually get a handle on my clients' experience. What they have flown before and what they are transitioning to. I almost always have them look at videos first. There are some very good ones from the manufacturers, I have a few playlists I recommend to them. If a PC or iOS trainer is available for practice, great. That's to give a foundation for flight. Flight is a step by step process. Basic buttonology - where things are located and how to fins them. A VFR-level understanding of the system. Then movement to simple IFR functions, followed by complex, but real-world ones I've seen even experienced pilots have trouble with. Speed is based on the pilots ability to assimilate.

BTW, for your G3X, the best intro video I've seen is from Garmin...
 
Find a good instructor familiar with your equipment, not someone who wants to learn with you. Work with them. The other thing about these TAA aircraft is that the buttonology is a perishable skill, you need to do it often so it doesn't fail you when you need it most.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top