Garmin International’s G1000 is depicted in the Diamond DA42 TwinStar. Even if you have experience in a technically advanced aircraft, some specialized training on these systems is strongly recommended.

By Paul K. Sanchez

Things have progressed quite a bit since Garmin International first released its certificated version of the G1000 in the Cessna C182T Skylane. Garmin was certainly not the first to come up with a glass cockpit display for general aviation—Avidyne’s Entegra/Flightmax EX5000 holds that distinction—but Garmin incorporated an internal GPS sensor rather than relying on a conventional panel-mount GPS.

Since it was announced in August 2004, the G1000 has migrated to four different aircraft manufacturers. Meanwhile, Avidyne was Cirrus Design’s choice for many years—even New Piper offers it for many of their models. While current and future owners have an excellent selection of primary flight displays (PFDs) and very large multi-function…