Beyond the Buttons: Mastering Our Marvelous Flying Machines

story and illustrations by Susan Parson

nce upon a time, every on important decision-making tasks, Also, the pages in the “waypoint” and office had a simple, prac- like evaluating weather and consider- “nearest” chapters are presented al- tical machine called a ing alternatives. Those who invest the phabetically, so you will find the “air- typewriter. It took a little time and money to truly master glass ports” page before you get to “user Otime to learn the basics of the QW- cockpit aircraft will find that they have waypoints” or “VORs.” Remembering ERTY keyboard, but mastery of the a lighter workload. how your system is organized can you machine was still a straightforward What does it take to be pilot-in- help you manage the sheer volume of mechanical matter. Then along came command of a glass cockpit aircraft? available information. It is also far progress in the form of computer- Just as the advent of word processing more effective (and far less frustrating) based “word processing.” The com- technology taught us that the me- than attempting to memorize mechan- puterized word processor could do chanical mastery of the QWERTY key- ical manipulation of the knobs. Simu- much more than the humble type- board was necessary but not suffi- lation software and books on the spe- writer….but it took longer to learn, cient, the rapid rise of glass cockpit cific system you are learning can be of and document creation was no longer avionics is showing us that pilot skills great value in this effort. a simple matter of typing in Pica or for both normal and emergency oper- The next critical information man- Elite. Instead, we had to learn to ations must include not just mechani- agement skill is to recognize that read- manage information, make the au- cal manipulation of stick and rudder, ing is fundamental. Understandably tomation obey our wishes, and cope but also the mental mastery of three enough, pilots new to glass cockpit with the unintended consequence of key flight management skills: informa- avionics often become fixated on the seeing easier changes (anybody still tion management, automation man- “knobology,” to the point of believing remember White-Out?) lead to more agement, and risk management. Let’s they must memorize each and every changes. Nay-sayers abounded, but take a look. sequence of button pushes, pulls, and resistance to computerized word pro- turns. Not so. Though human beings cessing was ultimately futile. We have Information Management are notorious for our reluctance to all been assimilated. read the directions, a far better strat- So what does office technology One of the axioms of aviation egy for accessing and managing the have to do with aviation? More than training is that the volume of informa- information available in glass cockpit you might think, because a similar tion presented is akin to drinking from computers is to stop, look, and read. technological transition is occurring in a fire hose. Pilots making their first Both the Garmin G1000™ and the the general aviation world. The simple acquaintance with glass cockpit Avidyne™ displays have clearly la- six-pack of round gauge instrumenta- avionics can fervently relate: the pri- beled buttons, knobs, and “softkey” tion is rapidly losing ground to the mary flight display (PFD) and multi- menus. Reading before you push, sleek and shiny new world of glass function display (MFD) screens are pull, or twist can often save you some cockpit avionics that “boot” rather chock-a-block with information, col- trouble. than “start.” As with word processing ors, menus, and sub-menus. There is Once you are actually behind the programs, it takes longer to learn to fly so much to see that a new glass display screens on a glass cockpit air- these planes. However, their systems cockpit pilot can easily be drenched in craft, your goal is to meter, manage, can do a lot more for the pilot. In fact, data, but still thirsty for useful knowl- and prioritize the information flow to for pilots schooled in the traditions of edge (e.g., how to find a specific piece accomplish specific tasks. Whether stick-and-rudder for the basics and of information). you are an instructor or a pilot transi- needle/ball/airspeed for instrument fly- The foundation of glass cockpit tioning to glass cockpit avionics, you ing, it may still feel a bit like “cheating” information management is to under- might find it helpful to direct the fire to relinquish so much of the traditional stand the system at a conceptual hose flow of information into a few piloting workload to a computer. level. In the Garmin G1000™, for ex- conceptual “drinking glasses” like What these pilots may not recognize is ample, information is organized in these: that accepting help on mundane “chapters” and “pages” that are identi- tasks, such as keeping the wings fied in text at the top and by symbols Personal preference. You might re- level, gives them more time to spend at the lower right of each “page.” member “have it your way” as an old

10 FAA Aviation News fast food advertising jingle, but the concept definitely applies to setting up the displays in a glass cockpit aircraft before you fly. Just as you can config- ure your personal computer display to suit your individual preferences and styles, you can set up many aspects of the glass cockpit PFD and MFD screens in the way that works best for you. An obvious example is map ori- entation. Most systems offer options that generally include “north up,” “track up,” “DTK” (desired track up), and “heading up.” Being a “heading up” fan myself—saves me from turn- ing my charts upside down—map ori- entation is one of the first things I check. To a large extent, you can also have it your way in terms of how much (or how little) information you display. I few other examples of managing infor- sensitivity for en route, terminal, don’t like clutter on my desk, but I do mation display for a specific operation approach. like a lot of information on the PFD. In include: • Weather datalink set to show Garmin G1000™ equipped aircraft, for echoes and METAR status example, I always configure the PFD • Map scale settings for en route “flags.” to show the inset map with the “topo” versus terminal area operation. and “traffic” overlays, the Nav1 and • OBS mode to set up a “ran- Situational awareness. Aircraft Nav2 bearing pointers (tuned, of dom” (non-published) holding flight manuals explicitly prohibit using course, to useful frequencies), and the pattern in GPS. the moving map, topography, terrain flight plan inset. I also make sure that • Terrain awareness page on the awareness, traffic, and weather the “V-speed” bugs for the airspeed MFD for a night or IMC flight in datalink displays as the primary data tape are selected on. On the MFD or near the mountains. source, but these tools nonetheless side, I check and, as needed, adjust • Nearest airports inset on the give the pilot unprecedented informa- the fields on the waypoint status bar PFD at night or over inhos- tion for enhanced situational aware- to suit my needs for the specific flight. pitable terrain. ness. Without a disciplined informa- • Course deviation indicator (CDI) tion management strategy, though, Specific operation. The “just in time” delivery system has become commonplace in the manufacturing world, and glass cockpit avionics put this concept to work for the general aviation PIC and flight manager. You now have the ability to prioritize infor- mation for “just in time” display of just exactly the information needed for any given flight operation. In Avidyne™ equipped aircraft, for example, system start begins by prompting you to set the appropriate fuel level. A good in- formation management practice is to put the comprehensive engine sys- tems status page (rather than the moving map) on the Avidyne™ MFD for taxi, takeoff, and initial climb, be- cause engine status information has much greater utility and value to you during these critical phases of flight. A

MARCH/APRIL 2007 11 these tools can also make it easy for tude. Callouts for what is ex- before you decided to disengage the an unwary pilot to slide into the com- pected next (e.g., next fix, next automatic CDI scaling feature, would placent role of passenger-in-com- altitude) are useful as well. This you know how to recognize the mand. For example, a pilot, whose practice helps you make the change? (Hint: If you see a numerical navigational information management most of your situational aware- value on the e-HSI instead of one of strategy consists solely of following ness gadgetry, while keeping the three notations for ENR, TERM, or the magenta line on the moving map, you firmly in the role of pilot in APR, your system is not using the de- can easily fly into geographic or regu- command. It’s also a great way fault settings.) latory disaster, if the straight-line GPS to catch your programming mis- course goes through high terrain or takes before they catch you. Navigation source. In the Garmin prohibited airspace, or if the moving G1000™, loading an ILS or LOC in- map display fails (yes, it can happen.) Automation Management strument approach procedure while Remember also that GPS is a supple- navigating by GPS causes the system mental system. Glass cockpit aircraft are highly (by default) to automatically locate, automated. While most include some identify, and install the LOC course in Your strategy for situational kind of automatic flight control sys- the Nav1 frequency box, and slew the awareness information management tem, otherwise known as the autopi- Nav1 OBS to the final approach should have several components: lot, “George” is not the only piece of course. Also by default, the system is automation you need to manage in configured to automatically switch the • Always double-check the sys- order to avoid the potentially danger- active navigation source from GPS to tem. At a minimum, ask your- ous distractions of “automation sur- Nav1 on an ILS or LOC approach. self whether the presentation prise.” For example: While these features can certainly ease makes sense. I once pro- your workload at a busy time, it is ex- grammed a moving map naviga- CDI sensitivity. By default, the tremely important that you know what tor to take me to Augusta, course deviation indicator (CDI) nee- to expect, monitor for proper opera- Maine (KAUG) when I wanted to dle is set to scale its sensitivity auto- tion, and promptly take appropriate go to Augusta, Georgia matically for the appropriate flight op- action if the system doesn’t perform (KAGS)—big difference. Be- eration. During the en route phase as you expected. cause I was so enthralled with (more than 30 nm from the destination the fantastic capabilities of my airport), the G1000™ electronic Hori- Autopilot. At the most basic level, new gizmo, I’m ashamed to say zontal Situation Indicator (e-HSI) pro- managing the autopilot means know- that it took me awhile to catch vides an “ENR” annunciation to tell ing at all times which modes are en- the mistake. Lesson learned. If you that a full-scale CDI deflection gaged, and which modes are armed your aircraft is equipped with puts you at least five nm from the de- to engage. You need to verify that weather datalink, you must re- sired course. Within 30 nm of the de- functions you have armed (e.g., nav member that you are looking at parture or destination airport, CDI tracking or altitude capture) do engage recent weather, not real-time sensitivity switches automatically to at the appropriate time. Automation radar returns, and take note of “TERM” mode, in which a full-scale management is another good place to the weather data “age” legend CDI deflection indicates at least one practice the verbal callout technique, on the MFD. It sounds easy and nm from the desired course. Within especially after commanding (or arm- obvious on the ground, but pic- two nm of the final approach fix, CDI ing) the system to make a change in tures are surprisingly and pow- sensitivity scales to “APR” mode, in course or altitude. When teaching in erfully persuasive. which a full-scale CDI deflection indi- these aircraft, I now require pilots to cates at least 0.3 nm from the desired read the display out loud, even (or per- • Use callouts. One of the infor- course. If, however, the pilot who flew haps especially!) for single pilot opera- mation management techniques I now teach for situational awareness in glass cockpit aircraft is callouts – even for single pilot operations. Specifi- cally, I ask pilots to read the appropriate displays (e.g., PFD, MFD, autopilot status annunciator) out loud after making any change in course or alti-

12 FAA Aviation News tions. In the Bendix/King KAP 140 il- least, of the three flight management departure was still VFR, lustration on page 12, for example, skills needed for mastery of the glass but visibly deteriorating to the callout might be as follows: cockpit aircraft is risk management. marginal VFR and forecast There is no question that the en- to be IFR approximately Heading mode is ENGAGED, and hanced situational awareness and au- two hours after comple- aircraft is following the heading tomation capabilities offered by a tion of the trip, which was bug on the e-HSI to intercept the glass cockpit airplane can vastly ex- along a well-known route desired course. Altitude hold pand its safety and utility, especially for to a familiar airport. Tem- mode is ENGAGED to maintain personal transportation use. At the peratures aloft for the pre-selected altitude of 4,500 same time, there is some risk that proposed altitude (which MSL. Navigation mode is lighter workloads could lead to the would put us in the ARMED to capture the desired cliché of “fat-dumb-and-happy” com- clouds) were just above course upon intercept. placency. Just remember that any freezing. The intended glass cockpit pilot tempted to relax route of flight included In glass cockpit aircraft, proper into a passenger-in-command role is short segments over automation management also re- likely to find some very sharp corners mountainous terrain. quires a thorough understanding of in all this cutting edge technology. As how the autopilot interacts with the with any piece of glass, you must al- External pressures: other systems. With some autopilots, ways handle it with care. We really, really, really for example, changing the navigation It is especially important to recog- wanted to fly! source on the e-HSI from GPS to nize that there are limits to what the LOC or VOR while the autopilot is en- systems in any light general aviation After watching the ceiling and visi- gaged in NAV (course tracking mode) aircraft can do. To help pilots remem- bility decline noticeably during the will cause the autopilot’s NAV mode ber this point, some Avidyne™ preflight inspection, we quickly lost to disengage. The autopilot’s lateral equipped aircraft now offer a risk man- faith in the forecast. Despite the profi- control will default to ROL (wing level) agement checklist page that the pilot ciency of the pilots and the capability until the pilot takes action to reengage must acknowledge before continuing of the aircraft systems, the two of us the NAV mode to track the desired to program the system. Whether or reluctantly concluded that the risk navigation source. not your aircraft is so equipped, just posed by a night flight over mountains Let’s look at an example. After remember that being pilot-in-com- in instrument meteorological condi- the pilot activates an ILS or LOC in- mand always requires sound aeronau- tions (IMC) with possible icing was strument approach procedure, the tical decision-making (ADM), and that well beyond the limitations of a light G1000™ system defaults are set to it sometimes means saying “no” to a single-engine airplane—and we lived switch the navigation source automat- flight you really want to take. Here’s a to fly another day. ically from GPS to the Nav1 localizer recent personal example, using the frequency as the plane approaches PAVE risk identification checklist: Beyond the Buttons the localizer. You could be in for a po- tentially dangerous “automation sur- Even the most reluctant converts prise” if you have one of the autopi- Pilot(s): On a recent will probably agree now that the con- lot’s navigational tracking modes winter evening, I planned a venience of computerized word pro- (NAV, APR, or REV) engaged when night cross-country flight cessing made it well worth the effort the system automatically switches the with a fellow G1000™ in- to learn new skills. Similarly, pilots, navigation source, especially if you fail structor. Both of us are who invest the time needed to master to notice that the system is no longer night current, instrument information, automation, and risk tracking the desired course. To en- current, and fully proficient management challenges of the glass sure that you remain ahead of the air- in use of the G1000™ sys- cockpit aircraft, will benefit immensely plane and fully in charge of your glass tems. from the enhanced potential for safety cockpit systems, you need to under- and aircraft utility. Prepare to be as- stand, anticipate, and manage such Aircraft: The aircraft similated! functions (e.g., by first manually was a G1000™ equipped, switching the navigation source and single engine airplane with 5 then engaging the autopilot’s APR the full weather datalink mode). package installed. Susan Parson is a special assis- tant in Flight Standards Service’s Risk Management enVironment: Weather General Aviation and Commercial Di- at the proposed time of vision. The last, but by no means the

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