On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:07:38 GMT, Judah wrote:

"Jim Macklin" wrote in news:1_9Kg.6638
$SZ3.4096@dukeread04:

You're missing the point, the G1000 displays some much
information in picture form, the pilot WILL almost certainly
come to rely on the system to work and stop doing that
"basic IFR" thinking. Sort of like pilots forget to check
the runway heading. With steam gauges, the pilot is forced
to THINK about the navigation situation, with the G1000
thinking is done by the machine.


The same could pretty much be said for a plane with Steam Guages and any
modern full screen GPS...

Yup and there are a *lot* of pilots who end up depending on the GPS
without realizing it. The same is true for a good autopilot in IFR
versus hand flying. If you spend a lot of time in the soup you spend
a lot of time on autopilot. Enough time that if it fails it can be a
shock. Still, the competent pilot practices hand flying in IFR,
flying by map, watch and compass, and flying the back up instruments.

I wonder what the percentages are of dependent pilots versus those who
stay competent on the backups?

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com