Ab Initio training on glass

[bush_league]

I'm looking for feedback from those of you that have trained pilots in glass cockpits. How do you find training ab initio on glass? Any issues that jumped out at you? Did you find it more difficult if you had to transition them to steam gauges afterwards? Do you think that those pilots are as competent as those that learn on the traditional six pack? Do you have a preference for training between glass and steam?

I know that I have a lot of questions, but I am just trying to figure out if transitioning our aircraft to G1000s is the best course of action for training.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[I WAS Pez]

No comment on instructing on one or the other, but there are some modern, certified glass panels for light GA aircraft that allow switching between a typical PFD with tapes, etc, and a view of a traditional six pack.

Specifically, the Dynon SkyView HDX (Certified). I have no hands-on experience with these, but did a fair bit of research on glass upgrade options last year, comparing offerings for a few specific aircraft models, and the SkyView HDX stood out in terms of the overall system design and bang for the buck - especially if you're looking for a modern digital, AHRS based autopilot, and your aircraft is on the current autopilot STC AML. All integrated into the system and very good value when compared with most other offerings. Easy switching in flight between display modes, 6 pack, etc.

This assumes upgrading existing aircraft of course. C172s are on the AML, with AP support.

Good forums at manufacturer site, lots of reviews online, and many YouTube review videos, including at least one from a flying club that upgraded a C172.

[PilotDAR]

Glass is the future for certain, those pilots who don't know it, will have to for the future. One day, steam gauges will be as common as hand propping. That said, for initial training, the instrument information should be secondary to just learning to fly the plane. Other than holding altitude and heading as required, really it's needle, ball and airspeed. You can get that simple information equally easily from glass or steam gauge. If you're seeking out a glass panel equipped plane, you're probably paying extra for it, is it worth the extra cost at initial PPL? I'm not sure it is...

[I WAS Pez]

Yeah - for initial training, it really shouldn't matter much, and there's certainly no need for fancy glass things. Should be quite easy to switch from steam gauges to glass later.

That said, depending on the school, being able to reconfigure with the press of a button might not be a terrible thing, give them the best of both worlds...

[digits_]

If you are converting your planes to a G1000 suite, make sure you are close by to a Garmin service center. There are quite some maintenance functions that a regular AMO/AME would be able to do, but for which Garmin locks you out unless you are a service center. That alone might not make it an affordable choice to switch. Grounding your flightschool plane for 4 days because you have to wait for a Garmin Service Center rep to plug in a card and push a few buttons to realign a compass or AHRS, is not fun.