This is the third in a series of articles dealing with learning to fly a Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA).  By definition, TAA does not imply a glass cockpit, but a glass cockpit does imply a TAA since almost 90% of production aircraft rolling off the assembly lines of the 5 largest general aviation manufacturers have glass cockpits that meet the TAA definition.  FT decided to devote a series to helping you learn most efficiently and most effectively in the TAA trainers that you are likely to encounter at your local airport.  Ed

 

In part 2, we discussed learning the Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) screen navigation and keeping ahead of the aircraft in flight.  We found that there are two key challenges to safely learning to fly TAA: Programming knowledge and cockpit fixation and that addressing these during early training will make for a safer flying experience.  In this installment, we will explore how to configure the cockpit for our particular flight and how to handle changes that inevitably will come up as the flight progresses.

 

The stylish cockpit of the Avidyne Entegra equipped Cirrus

 

 

One of the primary jobs a pilot faces after learning how to fly is configuring the aircraft to go where they want to go.  In traditional aircraft, the task was one of manual planning with a map and a flight planning log.  Once the pilot obtained the weather and the winds, they then have the final ingredient of the navigation quandary to determine what heading is required to achieve a track that will produce the most efficient flight to the destination.  The pilot then used a combination of aeronautical decision making, spatial judgment and intuition to guide the aircraft along its path on the map.  With the advent of electronic navigation 40 years ago and the revolution of the GPS receiver in the cockpit 12 years ago, the entire human machine interface paradigm has changed.  Just as computers have revolutionized business and engineering processes, advances in automation speed and dependability have finally convinced manufacturers and the FAA to bring the benefits of this technology to general aviation.  The training aircraft we now fly are more advanced than the corporate jets of 20 years ago.  The computer, the autopilot, the GPS, and the flight management system (FMS) all working together compliments of the tactful guidance of the pilot, thus the definition of TAA.

 

The components of Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA)

 

Pilots suddenly find themselves using computer integration to plan and execute complex flight plans.  Sounds a lot like NASA space missions doesn’t it?  Our job becomes one of oversight of the cockpit and we have become automation managers who are still 100% responsible for the operation of the aircraft in the event of an emergency or failure of a flight component.  Systems of today such as the Avidyne Entegra and the Garmin G1000 can do everything except taxi, takeoff, and land.  Pilots must still be trained to handle everything in case automation misbehaves.

 

An important component of FITS Training in TAA aircraft is teaching the pilot in training the process of Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM).  This is the methodical process of flying with a one person crew and keeping ahead of the aircraft so that the pilot is seldom caught off guard.  Mastering the programming aspects of the system and minimizing fixation are key ingredients in SRM and besides maintaining pilot proficiency, are the most effective way to enjoy flight without peril.

 

The components of Single-pilot Resources Management (SRM)

With the responsibility of the pilot now becoming one of cockpit manager, they have also unknowingly inherited a new flight skill:  automation programmer.  The pilot must direct the system to go where they want to go and maintain vigilance over the system to make sure that it does.  We introduced the programming task in installment 2, but now we must talk about how the pilot programs the system to navigate to the intended destination and how the pilot must ensure that the autopilot is interpreting its instructions correctly.

 

Regardless of whether a pilot is flying a Garmin G1000 system in a Mooney or an Avidyne Entegra in a Cirrus, there are generally three ways to fly the aircraft on any given flight.  The pilot can enter a multiple waypoint flight plan by pressing the “FPL” key and submit that to the autopilot, use the “Direct-to” key to go from the current location to a predetermined point, or they can simply ignore or disable the automation and fly the aircraft manually. 

 

The Garmin G1000 FMS controls

 

The difference between the Garmin G1000 and the Avidyne Entegra is where you enter the programming and how it is “coupled” to the autopilot.  This is why we recommend FITS training to make sure that pilots are trained to handle the respective systems in a way which will yield the best memory retention.  It does not take that much longer to learn the systems correctly if provided with the correct kind of training from a competent and knowledgeable instructor.

 

The Avidyne Entegra GNS 430 radio stack used to input flight plans

 

Just what does the pilot need to know besides how to enter the flight plan?  The crux of all navigation and the key instrument for the pilot to watch is the horizontal situation indicator (HSI) located on the Primary Flight Display (PFD). 

 

The Avidyne Entegra PFD HSI

 

The HSI not only contains the heading of the aircraft but it also contains floating colored arrows, reference bugs, and bearing pointers that the pilot or the autopilot can interpret to make course correction inputs.  Correlate that information with the course-line superimposed on the moving map on the Multifunction Flight Display (MFD) and the pilot now has what we call electronic situational awareness.  This has in effect replaced some of the judgment pilots used to need to fly cross country in the days prior to current navigation automation.  That judgment is still required of pilots in case the automation or its supporting electronics fails.

 

The Garmin G1000 PFD HSI

 

The pilot needs to use the FMS buttons and knobs in order to get the desired route waypoints into the direct-to or multipoint flight plan.  This is where the “bump-scroll and twist” screen control navigation paradigm comes to play.

 

The pilot simply enters in a string of sequential waypoints that define the desired path from the departure point to the destination using the FPL button.  Once the desired route is in place, then the pilot activates the leg, places the autopilot in NAV mode, and the aircraft is ready to follow its orders.  This is called “coupling” the autopilot to the flightplan.  It is a key ingredient in TAA aircraft operation.  We will talk about the autopilot aspect of the integration in the next article installment. 

 

A flightplan scenario flown on a typical training mission on a G1000 equipped aircraft

 

So once the pilot masters the programming task, they should be free to spend time doing cockpit management and to monitor the progress of the flight and mentally stay ahead of the aircraft as long as they can fight off the temptation to fixate on one aspect of the scan at the expense of another.  When scan flow stalls, it usually is with the MFD where a host of useful information lives including traffic, weather, terrain advisory, and weather radar on more advanced platforms.  When this fixation occurs, the pilot may not catch looming flight threats until too late.  Examples include airspace intrusions, obstacle or terrain impacts, or getting too close to the destination before the pilot is mentally prepared to arrive.

 

Conclusion

 

You should now have a better understanding of the navigation and flightplan programming task required on glass cockpit aircraft such as the Garmin G1000 and the Avidyne Entegra.  Try to get ahead of the aircraft by performing as much of the flight-planning before the aircraft is underway.  Most trips can be completely programmed prior to engine start.  Using this approach frees the pilot up to spend more time performing scan flow and less time watching the MFD TV.  No one said that you can’t still hand fly the aircraft to keep your hand flying skills sharp, but at least you will know with confidence that when you need to call on the automation to help or to completely takeover for a while, you know exactly how. Q