by HPA | Nov 14, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
For you pilots out there, think back to your student pilot days. Think to that point between the first solo and the check ride. That point where you knew how to land safely (sort of), but you still had some more to learn. This is known as the cross country phase. During the cross country phase, every student pilot has to sit down and do a ground block with his instructor to learn how to create a cross country flight plan. It seemed quite complex at the time, what with drawing a course line and handling this overly complicated slide rule known as an E6B. Then there was the navigation log complete with ground speed and fuel calculations. It all seemed a little overwhelming, and that was before your instructor informed you that you had to figure all that out while flying!
by HPA | Nov 7, 2011 | All News, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
Flying by reference to instruments is a challenge that, once mastered, can be one of the ultimate pleasures in flying. Whenever a private pilot is in the pattern and, all of a sudden, another pilot comes over the radio with a snappy tone: “November Eight Bravo Bravo, visual, 23,” doesn’t envy pour into the blood? Being able to fly IFR has numerous advantages. One is the ease of planning. When working on a VFR cross country, once he figures out where he is going, a pilot has to break out his plotter, mark the course, possibly change sectionals, pick out check points, figure out the headings, do some E6B calculations, and then some. When planning an IFR cross country, victor airways are already outlined on the low en-route chart, so all the pilot has to do is figure out which one to use. The best part is, the headings on the charts already take magnetic variation into account! Plus, a GPS direct clearance makes everyone’s job easier…
by HPA | Oct 31, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
Jeff had just purchased his new Cessna Skylane, complete with a G1000 and a KAP 140 autopilot. Jeff was not completely comfortable with a G1000, but he had decided to splurge and go for the G1000, 182T NAV III model with a KAP 140 autopilot. He had scheduled some lessons for the following week to become more proficient…
by HPA | Oct 24, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
How many pilots out there have uttered curses under their breath trying to work the KAP 140 autopilot? The KAP 140 is great when it does what a pilot wants it to do, but sometimes, getting it to cooperate is a pain. Even the most experienced pilots still have gripes with this particular autopilot. It just does not work sometimes. Hopefully, after these next two articles, pilots will not be tempted to tear the autopilot out and drop it out the window from 6,000 feet.
by HPA | Sep 23, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
User defined waypoints are extremely handy, but a lot of G1000 pilots do not even know they exist. All instrument pilots are familiar with waypoints. Waypoints are what make up GPS IFR routes. User defined waypoints can be utilized for any type of pilot, whether IFR or VFR.
by HPA | Sep 16, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
We have all been that pilot. Whether it is trying to load an approach or just set the altimeter, when we get in a rush, it seems the wrong button is always pushed. That can be frustrating when a flight plan is all programmed in, then it disappears. In my instructing career, I’ve seen my students do it many times. It never results in a safety issue, but it takes a little bit of time to get back to where they wanted to be. Over the next two articles, I will be addressing ten common G1000 mistakes. Here are the first five.
by HPA | Sep 3, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
On the long list of what can go wrong in a G1000 cockpit, a Garmin Display Unit (GDU) failure is less of a Maalox moment than other failures. A non-proficient pilot, though, might be lost when the PFD or MFD goes black. Here’s how to handle the situation. (Note: This article will only deal with the traditional G1000 configuration with one PFD and one MFD)
by HPA | Aug 26, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
I was in hard IFR, 400 foot ceilings and a mile visibility. I had just passed the initial approach fix on the ILS. On this particular ILS approach, I had to follow an arc that led me to the final approach course from the initial approach fix. The approach was briefed and loaded into the G1000 and I thought all I had to do was just keep the needles centered. Then, BAM! Red X’s started showing up everywhere on my PFD. Altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, all gone. The attitude indicator and my heading information were both inoperative as well.
by Brandon Ray | Jun 2, 2011 | All News, Cessna Articles, Cirrus Articles, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
In recent years, general aviation has benefited from many innovations and technological advancements. We have seen glass cockpits become standard equipment on new aircraft. Satellite datalink weather now helps guide our inflight decision-making and diversion planning. Digital autopilots on Skyhawks now rival those found on the commercial airlines. NDBs and VORs have faded out of the spotlight as GPS and WAAS technology take over as the navigation source of choice…
by HPA | Oct 31, 2010 | All News, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
The Instrument Flying Handbook states that situational awareness is simply “knowing what is going on” (1-14). The Garmin G1000 is a great tool to help maintain situational awareness on an IFR flight. In order to fully realize the system’s potential, however, the pilot must be able to load an IFR flight plan on the G1000 that matches his or her route exactly. This includes the ability to load a departure, an airway, and an arrival. This training article will cover these topics as well as how to store a flight plan in the G1000 and recall it from the database. Our sample IFR flight will take us from Dallas Love (KDAL) to New Orleans Lakefront (KNEW)…
by HPA | Oct 19, 2010 | All News, Garmin Articles, Training / Education
Airplanes are one of only a few types of vehicles that can truly operate in three dimensions. Because of this, the pilot must be able to plan his or her flight in order to arrive in the correct place (lateral navigation) at the appropriate altitude (vertical navigation). Poor descent planning may result in having to use abnormal techniques in order to land. Fortunately, good descent planning is not difficult. In fact, there are a number of ways to do it correctly…
by HPA | Apr 12, 2010 | All News, Garmin Articles, General News
Garmin announced that it will soon include synthetic vision, SVX, in the Garmin G300 and G3X avionics platforms.
by HPA | Oct 19, 2009 | All News, Garmin Articles, General News, Press Releases
Garmin Announces G3000 Integrated Avionics High Performance Aviation Garmin G3000 The newest addition to Garmin’s popular line up of integrated avionics was announced at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Orlando, Florida. Garmin’s...
