As I was finishing up my time with UND Aerospace, the fleet had started to switch from classic round-dial ‘steam gauge’ instruments to the Avidyne FlightMax flight display / Garmin GNS430 avionics package. It’s a “glass cockpit” system, along the lines of what you find in modern jet aircraft and turboprops. The Avidyne is a really solid system, but it requires that you also know how to work the Garmin nav/com/gps units, and the workload can get pretty high. If you’re in a Cirrus, the position of the radios (low and in the center console, kind of like where your cupholders might be in a car) makes hand-flying and tuning the radios a risky proposition.

One of the things that excited me about going to work at an FBO outside of the ‘UND bubble’ was that I’d have access to a fleet of Cessna aircraft equipped with the “Nav III” package. This means they use the Garmin G1000 panel and avionics system, although two retain the older (and independently functioning) Bendix KAP140 autopilot. I’ve been doing a lot of instrument training and cross-country flights with the G1000 aircraft, and I recently got to the point where I have about an equal amount of experience in the Garmin and Avidyne cockpits. One uses a modular construction, the other integrated; regardless, the differences in redundancy are mostly academic. Both have similar capabilities and presentation formats, but in the real world the G1000 comes out ahead.

In use, the Garmin has more buttons and more knobs than the Avidyne, but the additional complexity is about on par with having to work one or more GNS430. If you can use a 430 in a round dial cockpit (or in an Avidyne) then the G1000 will make at least a modicum of sense fairly quickly. The Bendix autopilot is an additional hurdle in the G1000 installations two of our aircraft have, due to the challenge of having to learn it on-the-fly and the complexity of modes it uses. Surprisingly, while the G1000 will lead the KAP140 autopilot through a holding pattern entry and around the hold, it won’t do a localizer procedure turn, leading to potential confusion (the Windows-based system trainer will, of course). The G1000 will also load and fly airways, pilot-nav departure procedures, and execute complete missed-approach procedures. It’s all very mature, and generally fairly easy to get it to do what you want.

However, once you roll the new GFC700 integrated autopilot into the G1000 cockpit, the G1000 rapidly pulls miles ahead of the Avidyne in both ease of use and capability. The autopilot essentially turns the G1000 into a system you would find in a much more sophisticated aircraft’s cockpit. The display format mirrors that of the CRJ’s Collins ProLine 4 avionics suite, with autopilot modes depicted above the PFD. The autopilot will also drive the flight director’s command bars, and this simple addition allows one to gain familiarity with the autopilot without actually committing to its use. It’s a great autopilot, smoothly and accurately controlling the aircraft and behaving much more consistently than the Bendix KAP140 in just about every respect. It’s a fun system to fly, and when it comes to situational awareness and comfort in the IFR system, it’s hard to beat.