On Feb 15, 3:39 pm, wrote:
Our CAP unit is going to be receiving a new C-182 with a glass
cockpit.
In order to give us a taste of it a Cirrus owner came to our CAP
meeting and showed us his wonderful aircraft (not the same PDF/MFD but
close). I've heard from many sources that it takes about 10 hours to
transition. In fact a local FBO has a brand new C-182 (rents for about
$200/hr) and requires 15 hours. Although I didn't fly the Cirrus, I
sat
in the aircraft while the owner spoke with someone else. He said we
could push any buttons we wanted to. So, I tried to think of all the
things I could normally do on an IFR flight. Amazingly, I had no
problems with any of the operations. The display is easy for me
because
my generation grew up flying flight simulators that use the exact same
display. The only hard part is figuring out the 430s (which I've done
before). So, I'm wondering if all this talk about a long transition
time is mostly for the generation that didn't grow up with computers.
Just thinking about the time it takes some people (not necessarily
based on age) to get familiar with their computer vs. others, I'm
wondering if its the same thing. Perhaps I'm being naive but I felt
that I could fly behind that panel today.

Has anyone on this list had experience with such a transition?
-Sammy J.

I'm a CAP TAA Check Pilot. The G1000 is not that hard for some, for
others its more difficult. Your instructor will take you through the
FITS training program that CAP requires. It can be done in as little
as 3 hours if you are already 182 current. You will get a new form 5.
The first hour is VFR, second is IFR, third is emergency (partial
panel approaches, etc).
So far, most pilots are not able to complete the IFR piece to F5
standards, so we've been signing a lot of IFR pilots off as "VFR only"
on their Form 5's. However, most are able to come back and get the IFR
later after some time in the aircraft.
The C17 rate for our G1000 182 is $50/hr dry.

-Robert, CFII