I have flown a fair few hours now in Cessna 172's, Cessna 182T's and DA40's with the G1000 in America, and I have to say that it is a massive leap forward in avionics. I also did my instrument rating in a traditional steam powered aeroplane.
The situational awareness is fantastic, in fact the FAA now decree that if you fly one of these aeroplanes and as long as the GPS database is up to date, you no longer need paper charts.
One of the big differences I found is that when flying IFR it is possible to keep the heading within a degree or two, as opposed to 5 if you're lucky on a normal HSI / DI and it is possible to fly at altitudes within +/- 10 feet, as opposed to 50 feet if you're lucky. The main display has been designed to keep all of the pertinent info right in front of you, which makes the scan easier, quicker and because headings / altitudes are also displayed in numbers you really can fly accurately. You can also catch changes in attitude / altitude / speed very quickly due to the wide Ai and speed / alt tapes.
I have not noticed any reliability issues, maybe I haven't flown enough hours in one. However, the supposed reliability far exceeds standard insturments by thousands of hours. However the system is modular, so if one particular part does fail, it is a case of pulling out the box, and slotting a new one in - literally 5 minutes work as opposed to a month in the avionics shop.
The tape displays are excellent, the speed tape clearly shown pertinent airspeeds, such as Vx, Vy, Vs, best glide etc.....as well as the standard colour coding. Altitude tape is fine, you can read off your alt in 10's of feet which helps accuracy, and with the VSI indication being alongside the alt tape it helps you plan your altitude changes. You can also dial in you assigned altitude which appears on the tape, so no more forgetting where you're meant to be. The AI has a really good feature, if you get into an unusual attitude, red arrows show you the way you need to push to get back to a normal attitiude.
The map functions are very good as is the traffic / weather displays which can be overlaid onto the map. In some parts of the USA this is literally a life saver, shame we can't get it over here. Other useful features on the map include being able to overlay fuel range rings and stuff like that. If you enter a flight plan into the map, you can pick up all the frequencies from the database. You would have to be in serious trouble to mess up an approach (GPS anyway), your course to steer is displayed on the map and the HSI automatically turns at each waypoint. Future versions will include vertical guidance in the form of virtual glideslopes (well not future versions, the software is already able to handle it once enabled). The map displays airspace classification / airspace ahead alerts and all good stuff like that. No doubt the 530's do as well.
The engine management functions are very good, and include features like "lean assist" to help get best mixture. I was surprised how much fuel is saved leaning properly, in a DA40 it made a difference from 11-12 gals / hr at 7000' to around 8 gals /hr. You can also read off fuel flow, endurance, duration and stuff like that. Any departure from normal parameters (oil temp / oil pressure / CHT / TIT etc...) and you are alerted straight away on the primary flight display.
Once you get used to the system, it is very easy to use. Most functions can be access through one or two knobs and softkeys and it is very intuitive. It does take a bit of getting used to, I was lucky enough to be allowed to use the Angel City Flyers G1000 sim at long beach where I got used to the system before stepping into the aeroplane. I believe Garmin will have a downloadable G1000 sim sometime soon, I saw the link on their website several months ago. There will be full FMS capabilities very soon, with integrated autopilot....
I'm converted now, whenever I go to America I always rent a G1000 equipped aeroplane. Plus if you get bored of listening to ATC, you can just tune in to the XM radio......
