I'm planning to have some G1000 dual time when in the US on business this month. I've never flown a glass cockpit before - my IMC was done entirely on steam gauges and I've no experience of the Garmin 430 or similar yet.
Main intention was just to see what it's like - I've read a few pprune threads about G1000 and the various widely differing viewpoints. The price of private flight training in the US makes this very attractive - dual training on a G1000 is similar to solo rental of an older aircraft in the UK.
With relatively little time at the flight school (where they do have a ground flight simulator as well as aircraft), I'd appreciate any suggestions to make it productive and enjoyable. I'll read Garmin's own training manuals on their website of course, but is there anything else I should read or do beforehand? During the training should I stick mainly to VFR or include some practice IFR approaches (I'm IMC rated).
Second question relates to whether the training would count towards either an FAA or EASA qualification. The flight school is FAA only - I've seen a G1000 checkout being offered, but don't think that's a specific FAA rating as such. There is an EASA EFIS qualification for PPL SEP pilots and I'd probably be doing almost as much as both sections of
this UK-based EFIS course. Would the time spent count towards it (even if it just reduced the time to formally complete it in the UK)?
I'm not very familiar with US airspace or local practices, so will need to take a lot in at the same time. However I'm not under any pressure to pass a test or gain a qualification so can just wind down and enjoy the scenery if it gets too much.
