This is the first 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

 

There you are, at the airport.  You wanted to do it your whole life and you have already committed to start flying, but there were so many choices.  What kind of aircraft, high or low wing, 2 or 4-place, should I buy one and lease it back or should I learn to fly in the flight school’s aircraft first?  You are walking down the flight line looking for your aircraft with your flight instructor and you locate the 1976 vintage trainer that you signed up for this lesson.  You think to yourself that the car you drove to the airport seemed like a spaceship compared to this tired old bird.  Suddenly, you spot a shiny, new aircraft on the ramp and you look in the door to see laptop-like screens built into the instrument panel.  Wow, you think, flat panel screens just like the computers at work!  The instructor explains that this “glass cockpit” aircraft takes the same physical skills to fly, but insurance regulations require special training to understand the avionics and the autopilot prior to allowing pilots to fly them.  The instructor offers to take you on a flight in one of these aircraft instead of the aircraft you were going to fly.  

 

Example of a TAA aircraft cockpit in a 2006 Cirrus SR22GTS

 

You are not alone in this situation.  After the 2004 introduction of the Avidyne Entegra and Garmin G1000 glass cockpit panels, general aviation has not been the same and neither has the process of learning to fly.  Sure, the price of the aircraft with the glass cockpit is higher than the trainers that your dad learned to fly, but if you are going to spend any money, then you might as well learn in the best equipment.  Besides, this will make it easier to convince your significant others that learning to fly is a good idea.

 

Inside the office, you switch the keys and think you are ready to move out to preflight the new aircraft, but your flight instructor takes you into the classroom to spend some study time first.  What is required to get yourself and this new aircraft ready to work together?  It is recommend to any pilot learning to fly or transitioning to these TAA aircraft that they spend some time going through the aircraft manual and some kind of ground class or software training program.  Not only will you find that the aircraft instrument panel is new, but you will find that many procedures involved in preflight, engine start, operation of the avionics, understanding the electrical system, handling emergencies, and conducting the cockpit scan is going to be new as well. 

 

The instructor takes you to a computer and starts up a program that allows you to look at the avionics on the computer.  You notice that the two screens in the cockpit have divided up navigation and engine instrumentation functions of the aircraft.  You learn that the left screen is called a Primary Flight Display (PFD) and contains all of the instrument functions that you were using on the older aircraft, but they have taken a new format on the screen and will take a little getting used to.  The right screen is called a Multi Function Display (MFD) and contains many new features including a robust moving map, traffic displays, weather, entertainment, terrain and obstacle depiction, and many other functions.  The part that surprises you is the fact that all of these features are driven by softkeys and knobs which surround the display bezel and that there is no keyboard.  Your instructor explains that MFD functions are divided into chapters and pages like a book.  In order to navigate and use these features, you have to do combinations of bumps, scrolls, and twists of a control knob and perhaps even press some of the softkeys along the display bezel to access other functions.  Some of the functions can be done on either screen controls and some are unique to the PFD or MFD.  You now start to understand why your instructor insisted on having you sit down for some bookwork before just jumping in the aircraft.  Your instructor recommends that you purchase a computer based training program or DVD which will more thoroughly explain the operation of the system.  There are a number of them on the market offered through ASA, King Schools, and others.  They are probably already in your airport book store.

 

Special FITS training programs are recommended prior to flying TAA aircraft

 

Once you have completed study preparations for operation of the TAA aircraft, what will you find different when you approach the aircraft as the student/pilot?  The exterior differences are going to be subtle.  Standing next to the aircraft, it will be hard to notice, but with a checklist in your hand, you will notice that there are many different antennas to check over and there is a temperature probe to examine.  You will also discover there are many more static wicks installed on the rear of the flight control surfaces that must be inspected to ensure that any static electricity is safely escorted to the air behind the aircraft without causing interference to the sensitive digital communication and navigation equipment on board.  You will also notice that during the internal aircraft inspection, there are procedures to check multiple batteries and in many aircraft, radios can be operated on a standby backup battery without turning on the avionics master switch.  Some aircraft no longer have vacuum pumps installed, and the inclinometer ball is gone from the panel.  You also notice that the circuit breaker panels are much more pronounced and appear to be segmented into groups with names like essential bus, primary bus, main bus, and avionics bus.  Your flight instructor rightly tells you that it is more important than ever to use your checklist for everything including preflight.  There are just too many things that could be easily forgotten without the checklist.

 

Power control switches offer new challenges to the training pilot

 

Once the preflight inspection is complete, you start going through the “Before Engine Start Checklist” and you notice that the order is different than you used in the classic aircraft.  We call the process of conducting a cockpit procedure a “flow”.  A flow in the TAA aircraft involves doing tasks such as electronic flight planning and radio setups prior to engine start.  That would not have been practical on classic GA aircraft because the avionics master switch had to be off during engine start to prevent voltage spikes from damaging radios and any settings would have been lost.  Engine instrumentation is now located on the glass panels so the screens must be on in order to monitor oil pressure and voltage condition during and after startup.  Modern TAA aircraft have conditioned power so that avionics are unaffected by starting the aircraft.  You might find that the aircraft is started with the alternator side of the master switch in the off position.  You also may find that there is a standby battery load check that must be performed to determine the status of the backup battery.  These are all new steps in the process of flying the TAA aircraft and should be a further reminder that checklist usage is a must.

 

Example of a TAA aircraft startup flow as it will be reflected on the checklist

 

Once the engine is started, there are several other steps to follow.  The engine instruments may be located on several pages of the MFD and you will find reference on the checklist to the process of setting the electronic fuel analyzer to reflect the correct amount of fuel in the tanks.  Many TAA aircraft have two separate fuel information systems that the pilot needs to understand.  One is fuel quantity measurement that comes from the fuel tank sending units and is reflected on the fuel gauges and the other is the fuel flow measurement system generated by the fuel flow transducer which generates a graphical range profile on the MFD screen.  The former tells the pilot how much fuel is in the tanks and the latter helps the pilot determine the aircraft range based upon real-time flight conditions and is accurate only if set correctly at the beginning of the flight.  It is important to note that the range information is not connected to the actual fuel in the tanks.  It is a powerful tool and can aid the pilot in proactively determining destination fuel requirements.

 

Another difference in the pre-takeoff flows of TAA aircraft is the operational check of autopilot and electric trim systems.  Many pilots have never encountered electric trim or autopilots in the 1970’s vintage trainers.  Checking the aircraft manual, the pilot will find that flying the TAA aircraft without conducting preflight operational checks is not permitted.  The autopilot and trim systems are typically integrated together because the autopilot uses the aircraft trim servos as the primary mechanical interface to the flight controls.  Because the autopilot can compete with the unsuspecting or forgetful pilot to control the aircraft, (by design the pilot must be able to win) it makes sense for the pilot to not only understand exactly how to operate the autopilot and the trim system, but also to completely check its operation prior to liftoff to make sure that it is fully functional when commanded, but turned off for takeoff and landing.  The checklist will spell out the steps for each system and the pilot must follow those steps exactly.  There are several different autopilot component manufacturers that have been adopted as standard equipment in TAA aircraft (Bendix/King, S-Tec, and Garmin) and each have different procedures for both preflight checks as well as in-flight operation.  Pilots are urged to go to the websites for their respective equipment manufacturers and download the manuals to their computers and read and understand those systems prior to flight. 

 

Conclusion

Whether you fancy a transition to an Avidyne Entegra system installed on Cirrus, Symphony, Columbia 350, and Piper aircraft or a Garmin G1000 system installed on Cessna, Diamond, Beech, Columbia 400, and Mooney aircraft, you must take the time to properly train on the systems before jumping in the aircraft.  The FAA has worked with many GA manufacturers to develop a special training paradigm called FAA/Industry Training Standard (FITS) which uses preplanned training scenarios for every lesson.  It is widely believed that FITS training will promote a more thorough and safer learning experience for any pilot operating a TAA aircraft.  Many insurance companies have adopted the FITS standard of training for determining when a pilot can be covered to fly a TAA aircraft.  Pilots who will be insured will be referred to the aircraft manufacturer or an approved training organization which has earned FITS Acceptance from the FAA Program Office in Washington, DC.  Just because your flight school has one of these aircraft does not mean that they have adopted the FITS training philosophy, but they soon will.  Either the insurance company will require it or the FAA will through the revised Practical Test Standards (PTS) that are now in development.

 

Through this first installment of the TAA Aircraft training series, you should now have a better understanding of what it is like to prepare one of these glass cockpit equipped aircraft for flight.  Prior to flying the aircraft, the pilot must have a working knowledge of the colorful glass screens in the cockpit, and the electrical system and its essential, main and avionic bus layout in order to have the highest chance of combating an electrical system malfunction in other than day VFR conditions.  The easiest way to learn the aircraft is to go the manufacturer’s web site and download the manuals and the supplements to the avionics and to read the aircraft manual or attend a FITS Accepted program.  Study the layout of the panels, switches, avionics, and logical divisions of the circuit breaker panels prior to the first flight.  Your instructor can help you find the best study materials, PC simulators, and FITS Accepted training software for the glass cockpit system you are going to fly.    Make copies of the checklists for your aircraft and take them home with you to study.  Once you make the transition to these TAA aircraft, you will never look at the classic old trainers on the ramp the same way again.Q