Training and Workforce
King course eases transition to Garmin’s G1000 cockpit
If you’re planning on flying a Cessna Mustang, Embraer Phenom, HondaJet or Diamond D-Jet, you’ll have to learn how to run Garmin’s G1000 avionics system.

If you’re planning on flying a Cessna Mustang, Embraer Phenom, HondaJet or Diamond D-Jet, you’ll have to learn how to run Garmin’s G1000 avionics system. And while you might already be used to modern EFIS with tape displays for altitude and airspeed and widescreen ADIs, HSIs and moving maps, the Garmin system has its own design philosophy. Most pilots new to the G1000 will find that it takes some time to get comfortable.

Having spent way too much time renting a G1000-equipped Cessna 172 in an attempt to transition to the new glass cockpits, I learned an important lesson: It’s much cheaper to spend time on the ground with G1000 training programs before climbing into the airplane. And not all instructors who say they are approved to teach in technically advanced airplanes know in detail the systems that they are teaching.