The G-1000 probably works best when you either use it exclusively or
have a lot of total time and experience in going back and forth.

Your idea of upgrading an airplance with a good autopilot, big screen
GPS with traffic and terrain, and HSI is a good option. But, the HSI
should be an electronic, slewable display, otherwise you have lost a lot
of the real benefit of the G-1000's nav data situational awareness.

And, those standalone electronic HSIs are expensive puppies.

I think I would still opt for the new G600, with the Garmin autopilot.
The AHRS alone is so much better than the lousy gyros light aircraft
have been using for years.

The Garmin autopilot is truly integrated with the avionics and will be
ready to do RF legs when they come along in a couple of years, or so.

wrote:

I have just finished two concurent aircraft learning programs

1)Getting my instrument currency back.
doing some paractice, taking a IPC.
All done in a round dial 172.

2)Getting checked out in a G1000 182.
I've finished the King G1000 VFR and IFR course and spent about
6 hours in the G1000, I've also finished theG1000 182 VFR checkout.


Today we went up and did some IFR work in the G1000 182.
My prior three flights were doing some instrument practice in the
round dial 172.

I'd been doing quite well at mastering the G1000, but putting the
hood on at 700 ft in the G1000 was really hard after flying my IPC
yesterday in a round dial 172.

Holding altitude is hard the Altitude bug is too small and the rate of
climb indicator is such a different presentaion tha tI find it hard to
track.

I t feels like transitioning back and froth from G1000 to round dials
is going to be hard.

When one uses the autopilot in the G1000 182, everything is easier,
one has lots of time to think and the situational awareness is
awesome.

I'm begining to believe that 90% of this is the autopilot and that the
super G1000 integration is not that big of a benift.

The things I really like:
1)Rock solid autopilot.
2)The terrain display.
3)The big map situational awareness.
4)Traffic.

If one upgraded an airplane to

1)Good autopilot
2)Big screen GPS with traffic and terrain
3)HSI

I believe that you will have gaind 90% of the benifit of a G1000 at a
fraction of the cost

One could probably get 75% of the way there with an Autopilot S mode
xponder and Garmin 496.