Glass cockpit hard to read

On Oct 6, 8:21 am, Arno wrote:
Hello,

I am computer scientist and usually really like fancy technology. But
I just had my first flight with a "glass" PFD (Avidyne) and must say I
am not impressed. In particular reading altitude and airpeed from
these scrolling bands requires a lot more attention than with regular
gauges, just like reading a digital clock takes longer than reading an
analog one. Glancing at it and checking against a known picture, like
"speed at 3 o'clock is fine on final" or "altitude at 20 minutes past
midnight is minimum", just does not work anymore, instead I end up
reading the actual numbers every time I look. Does anyone feel the
same? Am I missing a particular technique?

I'm not sure what a computer scientist does but I'm a software
engineer with multiple patents, etc which I assume is similar. The
transitioning to teaching in glass was almost effortless to me.
Reading airspeed from a tape is much easier because you can also see
trends easier. The only hard part is to accept the fact that you're
not going to fly at 1,000 feet, it may be 1,005 or 995. On an analog
gauge we don't notice the difference but it can be frustrating getting
used to the difference when its right there to see.

-Robert, CFII, FITS trained Technically Advanced Aircraft instructor.

I'm not sure what a computer scientist does but I'm a software
engineer with multiple patents, etc which I assume is similar. The

My English is not native, I guess I should say software developer.

transitioning to teaching in glass was almost effortless to me.
Reading airspeed from a tape is much easier because you can also see
trends easier. The only hard part is to accept the fact that you're
not going to fly at 1,000 feet, it may be 1,005 or 995. On an analog
gauge we don't notice the difference but it can be frustrating getting
used to the difference when its right there to see.

My real problem is that the tape always looks the same. Squint your
eyes and tell me your speed or altitude. You can with gauges because
you still have a rough idea what a certain hand positon means. You
can't with tapes, because whether 1000 feet higher or 20 knots faster,
it looks pretty much the same. The difference is only in the numbers.

Arno