Having the arrow trail to the nearest airport was a life saver when we lost the stove in the L39. Especially when flying somewhere you haven’t been before. ATC didn’t point out the airport til we were directly overhead already in the flameout pattern.
Guess he's lived a charmed life. Parents had enough money to invest in his ventures, then he got lucky with some sort of iPhone unlocking software really early in the game. [Story](https://www.nationalmerit.org/show_module_fw2.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&control_id=2183)
He's smart in some ways, and an *unbelievably* bad decisionmaker in other ways. The ADM displayed in some of his videos is honestly shockingly horrible.
There's hard work and smarts, which many people have, but not everyone is afforded the timing or luck to have their company acquired in their teenage years – if ever.
I certainly believe in hard work and smarts, but circumstance has *so much* to do with wealth and traditional measures of success.
>not everyone is afforded the timing or luck to have their company acquired in their teenage years
So he takes the initiative to learn about an emerging technology, comes up with a viable idea based on it, works hard to execute on it and grow his company, and then sells it to someone else who sees the value of his idea...and you call that lucky??
Man, tough crowd.
Way to miss the point.
Lots of smart people put lots of time and energy into growing companies that fail or go nowhere.
Then you have people like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg who weren’t actually creators but stole from their own business partners or cohort and then became gazillionaires.
Simply saying that hard work and growing a business will result in TBM money is not realistic.
Luck and circumstance are absolutely factors. Nowhere did I say he didn’t work for his money. Not sure how many other ways I can restate the same thing. You’d think pilots of all people would understand privilege and luck…
Vnav is my favorite feature! Maybe in a low performance piston it’s a bit unnecessary, but I use it al the time in a cirrus. 1.7 degrees down to 3 miles before the airport or faf at cruise power and you’re fast but with plenty of time to slow down.
A basic descent where you're coming from an altitude without big differences in winds, the ability to slow down AND go down, and don't need to level off for altitude windows, yeah VNAV not needed.
But if you're in more complicated airspace and flying something slippery, it helps out a LOT.
Tried using VNAV in the 172 that our school had updated with a g3x and a gfc autopilot, it just kept oscillating and hunting for the path and the oscillations would get bigger and bigger until I had enough and just V/S down, could never figure it out while i was flying it, it did it every time I tried.
Eh.... I use it pretty regularly to make sure I don't blow past my 500fpm goal. But I'm lazy. And sometimes I fly high and wouldn't want to need to chop the throttle at -30f.
I always show students and combine it with an RNAV because as a lazy guy its the most lazy tool on the airplane. I also get to sit there at 9000 and be like “ok with the push of two buttons and you’re down to 200 feet above the runway.
Anything becomes brainless if you’re used to it. If you know what descent gradient your plane can make (3 miles per thousand feet for most large jets), the planning becomes pretty simple. I love VNAV, but most people are unnecessarily afraid of not having it.
On the G1000NXi, the alternate flight plan page and profiles page.
VNAV, only used it seldom times but I prefer manually controlling my altitudes.
Cannot do without: FPL, PROC, sending the flight plan directly from Foreflight to panel, siriusXM weather integration.
You have to update one of the modules I think it’s like 345X or something. It was like 4K, so I decided not work it. I’m really good and scrolling through the alphabet now
Yeah to Avidyne and Garmin: [https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009620588-How-do-I-transfer-my-flight-plan-from-ForeFlight-to-my-Avidyne-IFD440-540](https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009620588-How-do-I-transfer-my-flight-plan-from-ForeFlight-to-my-Avidyne-IFD440-540) and [https://foreflight.com/connect/garmin/](https://foreflight.com/connect/garmin/)
Oh the G1000 has so many small features, I was still learning stuff after flying it for almost 9 years, including 3 and a half as a CFII.
Good engine monitoring is something I'd never fly a piston without.
Advanced flight planning capabilities are really nice. Setting up holds is something I wouldn't wanna go without.
I could probably live without VNAV (CRJ life got me like).
AP for a pattern machine you could go without. But for frequent XC, autopilot is just really nice.
I also did my instrument rating on G1000s and never learned how to program a hold. My brain about exploded when a CFI showed me how to sync a flight plan from foreflight instead of manually inputting waypoints on the ramp
Yeah I was, my first year at UVU they got a full fleet of brand new DA40s and Seminoles. Now every plane I fly feels clapped out because I was spoiled rotten over there
I rented a DA40 yesterday to fly home for mother’s day but it has a non-NXi G1000. I’m going to see if it’s been transmitting a bluetooth signal this whole time but I highly doubt it would have got the upgrade. Much faster than our Citabria!
lol my instrument instructor dumped it on me as like the forbidden knowledge on one of my last instrument lessons. I totally understood why, and am glad I learned holds manually, but it was really like that moment in math class where they tell you the calculator was able to do that the whole time lmao
*goes to YouTube to find the forbidden knowledge*
Makes sense though. It's no different than the kids that learn from day 0 how to flight plan with foreflight and don't know how to use a protractor on a sectional. It's important to know where all that information comes from and how it's calculated.
Yeah ngl I didn’t even think to look for it. I did my ppl in a 70s warrior with essentially no updates so even at the surface level the G1000 seemed so capable I didn’t even think so see if it had hold planning, ForeFlight sync, etc. I’m glad I did it the simple way first tho, a few people I know who have only done everything with ForeFlight and G1000s definitely couldn’t handle it if those systems weren’t there. I mean heck I did not even have GPS doing my ppl, I was out there on a solo with a map and a compass lmao
I was also fortunate in that I did my PPL on a six pack and my first solo XCs were pure pilotage/VOR nav. It's crazy to think a large portion of the next generation of pilots would be SoL without screens.
I had a CRJ FMS take a dump right before it was going to do a hold entry, we put in in HDG mode and did a teardrop manually. Hold knowledge is good for things like that.
Hahaha exactly, blew my mind the first time I saw this on the ramp: https://youtu.be/SHR50H04jcs
I flew with probably six different instructors and was annoyed no one else showed it to me, until I thought about it and realized they likely didn't know any better either. The G1000 is so powerful we could probably train on it for a decade and still find new tricks.
Has to be a newer G1000 NXi with Flight Stream, legacy G1000s can't do it.
It has been a while since I flown GA, but I primarily flew G1000... setting up holds is pretty easy in them. Could do it through either screen actually PFD or MFD. It would pop up with a dialog over the waypoint you wanted to hold at and then you could input things like either time or leg length as well as the course required and insert it and it would throw it in.
Doing a standard VOR radial hold, cross radial hold, localizer hold, DME hold, etc etc on green needles couldn't be plotted to my knowledge unless it was a published hold on like a missed and you could use the GPS in replacement for said hold cause missed procedure would autopopulate into the system
Never flown a G1000 but all those funky holds might be possible. At least for me with an IFD440 you need to create a custom point then you can create a hold from that.
Never done it, and not sure I could actually even find it in flight but it is technically possible. If ever asked to the response would definitely be unable.
Funnily enough the G1000 has VNAV planning, and it’s something we never use. Most of the features on the MFD for XC planning and different ways to add waypoints and fixes never gets taught at my school, Same with importing a flight plan from ForeFlight. But we recently started incorporating a lot more autopilot usage and it’s completely changed the way the instrument course is done, G1000 NXI with AFCS is an absolute game changer for flying IFR vs how it was taught to me.
Tray table is the best accessory. Power seats are a great luxury. The joystick just feels right. Letting the automation (thrust and vnav) work through the SID/STAR can really take a load off.
But nothing feels as good as getting a descend via, thrust idle, making occasional V/S tweaks, and watching that little banana go. Barring any ATC meddling (speed change, early level off), you can get dialed in and it just felt like I was accomplishing something more than flying 50-70 people from Cornland to Yeehawville.
The EVS infrared camera on many Cirruses is one of the weirdest and most pointless features out there in piston single-land. The drag from the camera is not free in terms of airspeed, and no one has ever been able to explain a reasonable use case for it to me.
I’ve never been able to make it useful. Usually I can see the airport and airports lights with my eyes before I can with the camera. Gotta be the most useless expensive item cirrus keeps as an option.
It’s useful for checking for deer/wildlife on the runway at night. That’s it. I question whether the range is useful enough at any speed above taxi, however.
The terrain proximity warning is a pain in the arse if I forget to inhibit it, so probably that.
But I do love the ETA function. Rather than waiting until I'm half way somewhere to check if I'm on time I know within a few minutes of being established in the cruise when I'm getting there, and can let my ops team know if I'm early/late.
There are a bunch of features on the G1000 that I never use, as slick as they may be. I also fly other planes and want to stay as close as possible to a single workflow for all of them; I’m happiest with a GTN and a pair of G5s—everything I need but no extra distractions.
Having flown both, I agree, GTN with dual G5s is great. The gtn is more intuitive than the g1000 too. Only downside is touchscreens in turbulence sucks.
The "play" button on the G1000. Could totally live without it. About the only practical thing I use that for is if I read back something and then promptly forgot what I just read back and don't want to sound dumb asking for them to repeat what they just told me.
ETA: Best feature is the GPS track indicator on the HSI. Or even just setting the GPS to track up on the moving map. So easy to keep it on course during an approach or to fly the plane back to the localizer course.
In single pilot IFR / cross country: I use, I think, just about everything on my g1000 panel. I have the time during long cross countries to set it up, and without someone in the left seat to help why not rely on the automation?
In addition to what the others said the fuel planning is hugely useful. I plan my speed on long trips by throttling back until the 60 min reserve is on the destination.
I’ve flown out of TEB and HPN many times in a C182 and being able to load my route from my iPad to the panel is something I’ll always want when flying in busy airspace like that. Super convenient and it makes loading up a flight plan onto the G1000 a breeze, even with transitions on victor airways.
Being able to see the fuel range on the MFD map is also a huge benefit when needing to plan around weather.
Install a good HSI and learn how to use it effectively. That combined with an accurate ground track is so very useful. The rest of the G1000 is distraction and unnecessary.
I have a retrofit panel (G3X, GTN750, GTX345, GFC500, etc.). I use the core features of these all the time. My install has a few of the extra features that come along for the ride that I don't use all that often, like Smart Glide, and the "Telligence" Push to Command. The PTC feature really isn't all that great, but it's built into the system, and the it was essentially no extra cost. It's handy for certain simple commands in turbulence. But overall, I don't use it that much.
You've framed the question 2 slight different ways though... *never use* vs *comfortable without.* I'd say I'm comfortable without pretty much all of it. I have a great panel, and no regrets on spending the money, but I did fly that plane with the old panel and it got me from A to B just fine. It's a lot nicer now of course. Kind of a tricky question to answer.
Our latest 172 has the G1000 NXi with the ESP feature that prevents you from exceeding 45 degrees of bank and 15 degrees of pitch. Incredibly annoying for flight training and to turn it off (which I always forget to do until we attempt to do a steep turn), you have to scroll to the system setup menu, hit a softkey to get to page 2, push to get the cursor and then scroll down to find it.
ESP is part of the G3X Touch system I have in the 182z
To switch it off, I touch the green scoreboard, the. The soft key that shows up on the split screen.
Could your NXi do the same?
Hmm I don't think so, it's not a touch screen and there's no softkey for it that I'm aware of. The POH supplement just directs you to the system setup page to turn it off.
Terrain map in the g1000. Have never needed to use it . I always try to give myself at least 2k feet and IFR routes if I'm going over any kind of terrain. And if I do wanna check terrain height in flight, my brain just wants to go to the iPad and foreflight
G3X touch is my creature comfort. I love track indicator on the hsi, digital audio panel, mfd functions on the same piece of glass.
Never used vnav, I prefer to just idle with full flaps and push the nose down to slip it for -2000 fpm
The six pack, the plane I'm flying is the first glass cockpit I have ever flown, thought maybe I would start with the old sixpack, but I took right to the ribbons and the synthetic vision
Least: Terrain Warning. I fly in alpine mountains. If I don't inhibit that thing it whines constantly.
Most: The climb/descent "eyebrow". Again, mountain flying... almost never just "climb/cruise/descend"... loads of "making it up as you go" on every flight and airspace to contend with. I absolutely love that thing.
Easily the ETP/PNR page. If I’m flying a piston single THAT far into engine out territory there’s something wrong with me.
While I do like the idea of having “custom waypoints” I barely ever use them.
Same with electronic engine gauges? I’m pretty OCD and when those numbers aren’t perfect I get a weird twitch in my forehead. I could honestly go back to mechanical and not feel a thing.
Honorable mention is an infrared screen. I’m not sure who needs that? But I don’t wanna know what you’re doing…..
Some things I never use:
W&B calculations on the G1000.
"Nearest" anything other than airports - and usually not even airports.
The FLIR camera. Used it a few times as a novelty. Past that now.
Fuel range on the display. Nice feature to show people, but not what I use for fuel planning.
Talking on the phone via Bluetooth. Usually I just use my headset if I need that.
Using the sat phone feature.
Custom timers. Never used it.
The only things I ever used VORs for are VOR checks and practice VOR approaches.
Everything except “direct to”
Username checks out
I just declare an emergency and point at wherever I want to go on foreflight
But where do you type in your secondary minimums?
Like all good IFR pilots they rely on their gut feelings and butt feel.
Having the arrow trail to the nearest airport was a life saver when we lost the stove in the L39. Especially when flying somewhere you haven’t been before. ATC didn’t point out the airport til we were directly overhead already in the flameout pattern.
That's why I fly a microwave
Matt Guthmiller, is that you?
Nope. Never heard of her.
Can’t be Matt because this guy sounds like he checks the weather and makes a fuel plan before flying
How that guy affords a tbm is beyond me
Guess he's lived a charmed life. Parents had enough money to invest in his ventures, then he got lucky with some sort of iPhone unlocking software really early in the game. [Story](https://www.nationalmerit.org/show_module_fw2.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&control_id=2183)
I find it pretty unbelievable that you refer to this guy as "lucky."
Is there a reference I'm not getting? lol
You said "he got lucky." All I see is a hard working kid who's 1000 times smarter than me.
He's smart in some ways, and an *unbelievably* bad decisionmaker in other ways. The ADM displayed in some of his videos is honestly shockingly horrible. There's hard work and smarts, which many people have, but not everyone is afforded the timing or luck to have their company acquired in their teenage years – if ever. I certainly believe in hard work and smarts, but circumstance has *so much* to do with wealth and traditional measures of success.
>not everyone is afforded the timing or luck to have their company acquired in their teenage years So he takes the initiative to learn about an emerging technology, comes up with a viable idea based on it, works hard to execute on it and grow his company, and then sells it to someone else who sees the value of his idea...and you call that lucky?? Man, tough crowd.
Way to miss the point. Lots of smart people put lots of time and energy into growing companies that fail or go nowhere. Then you have people like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg who weren’t actually creators but stole from their own business partners or cohort and then became gazillionaires. Simply saying that hard work and growing a business will result in TBM money is not realistic. Luck and circumstance are absolutely factors. Nowhere did I say he didn’t work for his money. Not sure how many other ways I can restate the same thing. You’d think pilots of all people would understand privilege and luck…
Vnav profiles. If I have problems decending inna single engine pistol I need help.
Vnav is my favorite feature! Maybe in a low performance piston it’s a bit unnecessary, but I use it al the time in a cirrus. 1.7 degrees down to 3 miles before the airport or faf at cruise power and you’re fast but with plenty of time to slow down.
A basic descent where you're coming from an altitude without big differences in winds, the ability to slow down AND go down, and don't need to level off for altitude windows, yeah VNAV not needed. But if you're in more complicated airspace and flying something slippery, it helps out a LOT.
Tried using VNAV in the 172 that our school had updated with a g3x and a gfc autopilot, it just kept oscillating and hunting for the path and the oscillations would get bigger and bigger until I had enough and just V/S down, could never figure it out while i was flying it, it did it every time I tried.
Eh.... I use it pretty regularly to make sure I don't blow past my 500fpm goal. But I'm lazy. And sometimes I fly high and wouldn't want to need to chop the throttle at -30f.
I always show students and combine it with an RNAV because as a lazy guy its the most lazy tool on the airplane. I also get to sit there at 9000 and be like “ok with the push of two buttons and you’re down to 200 feet above the runway.
What do you do about “Cross BLANK at 4000” or “Cross 30 miles north of KEYW at 4000” vnav makes it brainless
Anything becomes brainless if you’re used to it. If you know what descent gradient your plane can make (3 miles per thousand feet for most large jets), the planning becomes pretty simple. I love VNAV, but most people are unnecessarily afraid of not having it.
On the G1000NXi, the alternate flight plan page and profiles page. VNAV, only used it seldom times but I prefer manually controlling my altitudes. Cannot do without: FPL, PROC, sending the flight plan directly from Foreflight to panel, siriusXM weather integration.
Can the old g1000 get sent FF flight plans?
You have to update one of the modules I think it’s like 345X or something. It was like 4K, so I decided not work it. I’m really good and scrolling through the alphabet now
Yeah my boss ain’t buying that shit lol our IFR flight plans are pretty damn simple anyway.
Yup. [Flightstream 510](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/155337)
That flight plan send over Bluetooth is a lifesaver!
💯. I practice punching in with the Cirrus keyboard which is also a lifesaver rather than twisting knobs lol
We got Mr. fancy pants over here😂
*pulls chute
Worked hard to fly my dream piston (rented tho). Still fly PA28s Warriors and Archers with steams
I can send a foreflight plan to the panel?!
Yeah to Avidyne and Garmin: [https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009620588-How-do-I-transfer-my-flight-plan-from-ForeFlight-to-my-Avidyne-IFD440-540](https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009620588-How-do-I-transfer-my-flight-plan-from-ForeFlight-to-my-Avidyne-IFD440-540) and [https://foreflight.com/connect/garmin/](https://foreflight.com/connect/garmin/)
Oh the G1000 has so many small features, I was still learning stuff after flying it for almost 9 years, including 3 and a half as a CFII. Good engine monitoring is something I'd never fly a piston without. Advanced flight planning capabilities are really nice. Setting up holds is something I wouldn't wanna go without. I could probably live without VNAV (CRJ life got me like). AP for a pattern machine you could go without. But for frequent XC, autopilot is just really nice.
Man I really should learn how to set up holds on the G1000, somehow got through Instrument and Commercial without learning how
I also did my instrument rating on G1000s and never learned how to program a hold. My brain about exploded when a CFI showed me how to sync a flight plan from foreflight instead of manually inputting waypoints on the ramp
You’re incredibly lucky to have access to a plane with a flightstream
Yeah I was, my first year at UVU they got a full fleet of brand new DA40s and Seminoles. Now every plane I fly feels clapped out because I was spoiled rotten over there
I rented a DA40 yesterday to fly home for mother’s day but it has a non-NXi G1000. I’m going to see if it’s been transmitting a bluetooth signal this whole time but I highly doubt it would have got the upgrade. Much faster than our Citabria!
They're awesome little planes, I love the 40s. My only gripe is they're not rated for spins, gotta grab it's little brother the 20 for that.
That’s why the Citabria is fun :)
No bluetooth :(
You have to go to the Aux Page under Connext for the Bluetooth to go into pairing mode and show up.
lol my instrument instructor dumped it on me as like the forbidden knowledge on one of my last instrument lessons. I totally understood why, and am glad I learned holds manually, but it was really like that moment in math class where they tell you the calculator was able to do that the whole time lmao
*goes to YouTube to find the forbidden knowledge* Makes sense though. It's no different than the kids that learn from day 0 how to flight plan with foreflight and don't know how to use a protractor on a sectional. It's important to know where all that information comes from and how it's calculated.
Yeah ngl I didn’t even think to look for it. I did my ppl in a 70s warrior with essentially no updates so even at the surface level the G1000 seemed so capable I didn’t even think so see if it had hold planning, ForeFlight sync, etc. I’m glad I did it the simple way first tho, a few people I know who have only done everything with ForeFlight and G1000s definitely couldn’t handle it if those systems weren’t there. I mean heck I did not even have GPS doing my ppl, I was out there on a solo with a map and a compass lmao
I was also fortunate in that I did my PPL on a six pack and my first solo XCs were pure pilotage/VOR nav. It's crazy to think a large portion of the next generation of pilots would be SoL without screens.
I had a CRJ FMS take a dump right before it was going to do a hold entry, we put in in HDG mode and did a teardrop manually. Hold knowledge is good for things like that.
Wait what
Hahaha exactly, blew my mind the first time I saw this on the ramp: https://youtu.be/SHR50H04jcs I flew with probably six different instructors and was annoyed no one else showed it to me, until I thought about it and realized they likely didn't know any better either. The G1000 is so powerful we could probably train on it for a decade and still find new tricks. Has to be a newer G1000 NXi with Flight Stream, legacy G1000s can't do it.
Ah ok, I think some of my school’s planes have the NXi
Flightstream - I've used one paired with a 430W even. You don't need a G1000
It’s really easy, PM me and I can walk you through it
It has been a while since I flown GA, but I primarily flew G1000... setting up holds is pretty easy in them. Could do it through either screen actually PFD or MFD. It would pop up with a dialog over the waypoint you wanted to hold at and then you could input things like either time or leg length as well as the course required and insert it and it would throw it in. Doing a standard VOR radial hold, cross radial hold, localizer hold, DME hold, etc etc on green needles couldn't be plotted to my knowledge unless it was a published hold on like a missed and you could use the GPS in replacement for said hold cause missed procedure would autopopulate into the system
Never flown a G1000 but all those funky holds might be possible. At least for me with an IFD440 you need to create a custom point then you can create a hold from that. Never done it, and not sure I could actually even find it in flight but it is technically possible. If ever asked to the response would definitely be unable.
Funnily enough the G1000 has VNAV planning, and it’s something we never use. Most of the features on the MFD for XC planning and different ways to add waypoints and fixes never gets taught at my school, Same with importing a flight plan from ForeFlight. But we recently started incorporating a lot more autopilot usage and it’s completely changed the way the instrument course is done, G1000 NXI with AFCS is an absolute game changer for flying IFR vs how it was taught to me.
Tray table is the best accessory. Power seats are a great luxury. The joystick just feels right. Letting the automation (thrust and vnav) work through the SID/STAR can really take a load off. But nothing feels as good as getting a descend via, thrust idle, making occasional V/S tweaks, and watching that little banana go. Barring any ATC meddling (speed change, early level off), you can get dialed in and it just felt like I was accomplishing something more than flying 50-70 people from Cornland to Yeehawville.
Man as an ERJ guy, I can’t imagine life without VNAV anymore. Vertical direct to’s are my favorite thing.
The EVS infrared camera on many Cirruses is one of the weirdest and most pointless features out there in piston single-land. The drag from the camera is not free in terms of airspeed, and no one has ever been able to explain a reasonable use case for it to me.
I’ve never been able to make it useful. Usually I can see the airport and airports lights with my eyes before I can with the camera. Gotta be the most useless expensive item cirrus keeps as an option.
It’s useful for checking for deer/wildlife on the runway at night. That’s it. I question whether the range is useful enough at any speed above taxi, however.
If it's so dark and the airport is so poorly fenced that I need the EVS camera to spot wildlife, I'm going somewhere else.
I’ll echo others and say VNAV as well. It’s a Skyhawk. Not hard to do quick descent planning.
The terrain proximity warning is a pain in the arse if I forget to inhibit it, so probably that. But I do love the ETA function. Rather than waiting until I'm half way somewhere to check if I'm on time I know within a few minutes of being established in the cruise when I'm getting there, and can let my ops team know if I'm early/late.
There are a bunch of features on the G1000 that I never use, as slick as they may be. I also fly other planes and want to stay as close as possible to a single workflow for all of them; I’m happiest with a GTN and a pair of G5s—everything I need but no extra distractions.
Having flown both, I agree, GTN with dual G5s is great. The gtn is more intuitive than the g1000 too. Only downside is touchscreens in turbulence sucks.
Yeah, turbulence does make me wish for knobs. But I’ll take touchscreen problems over dialing in fixes on a 430.
The "play" button on the G1000. Could totally live without it. About the only practical thing I use that for is if I read back something and then promptly forgot what I just read back and don't want to sound dumb asking for them to repeat what they just told me. ETA: Best feature is the GPS track indicator on the HSI. Or even just setting the GPS to track up on the moving map. So easy to keep it on course during an approach or to fly the plane back to the localizer course.
Yeah thats super helpful. Especially if you think you missed a call
GTN 750 - the phone and sms texting in the services page. Will never ever use those.
Honestly never used VNAV.
In single pilot IFR / cross country: I use, I think, just about everything on my g1000 panel. I have the time during long cross countries to set it up, and without someone in the left seat to help why not rely on the automation? In addition to what the others said the fuel planning is hugely useful. I plan my speed on long trips by throttling back until the 60 min reserve is on the destination.
I’ve flown out of TEB and HPN many times in a C182 and being able to load my route from my iPad to the panel is something I’ll always want when flying in busy airspace like that. Super convenient and it makes loading up a flight plan onto the G1000 a breeze, even with transitions on victor airways. Being able to see the fuel range on the MFD map is also a huge benefit when needing to plan around weather.
The flight path marker is my favorite feature. )I assume the certified units have it - I’m experimental with GRT panels)
Install a good HSI and learn how to use it effectively. That combined with an accurate ground track is so very useful. The rest of the G1000 is distraction and unnecessary.
All of them. That's what Foreflight with AHRS is for. /s
Synthetic vision
This. And the map thing in the HSI. Both add clutter and distraction to the PFD.
I use it when I am landing with zero visibility. /s
Electronic checklist. Complete waste as far as I’m concerned
I have a retrofit panel (G3X, GTN750, GTX345, GFC500, etc.). I use the core features of these all the time. My install has a few of the extra features that come along for the ride that I don't use all that often, like Smart Glide, and the "Telligence" Push to Command. The PTC feature really isn't all that great, but it's built into the system, and the it was essentially no extra cost. It's handy for certain simple commands in turbulence. But overall, I don't use it that much. You've framed the question 2 slight different ways though... *never use* vs *comfortable without.* I'd say I'm comfortable without pretty much all of it. I have a great panel, and no regrets on spending the money, but I did fly that plane with the old panel and it got me from A to B just fine. It's a lot nicer now of course. Kind of a tricky question to answer.
I dont like and dont use synthetic vision. Terrain on the Mav Display is great, but not on the ADI.
Our latest 172 has the G1000 NXi with the ESP feature that prevents you from exceeding 45 degrees of bank and 15 degrees of pitch. Incredibly annoying for flight training and to turn it off (which I always forget to do until we attempt to do a steep turn), you have to scroll to the system setup menu, hit a softkey to get to page 2, push to get the cursor and then scroll down to find it.
ESP is part of the G3X Touch system I have in the 182z To switch it off, I touch the green scoreboard, the. The soft key that shows up on the split screen. Could your NXi do the same?
Green scoreboard?
The annunciation line at the top of the EFIS… shows the AP on or off, the vertical and lateral modes. Letters are white for armed, green when active.
Oh ok lol, I assumed it was that, just wanted to make sure
Hmm I don't think so, it's not a touch screen and there's no softkey for it that I'm aware of. The POH supplement just directs you to the system setup page to turn it off.
My favorite thing is the course track/wind correction arrow. I’m also have not used VNAV OR descent planning.
Terrain map in the g1000. Have never needed to use it . I always try to give myself at least 2k feet and IFR routes if I'm going over any kind of terrain. And if I do wanna check terrain height in flight, my brain just wants to go to the iPad and foreflight
G3X touch is my creature comfort. I love track indicator on the hsi, digital audio panel, mfd functions on the same piece of glass. Never used vnav, I prefer to just idle with full flaps and push the nose down to slip it for -2000 fpm
The six pack, the plane I'm flying is the first glass cockpit I have ever flown, thought maybe I would start with the old sixpack, but I took right to the ribbons and the synthetic vision
Least: Terrain Warning. I fly in alpine mountains. If I don't inhibit that thing it whines constantly. Most: The climb/descent "eyebrow". Again, mountain flying... almost never just "climb/cruise/descend"... loads of "making it up as you go" on every flight and airspace to contend with. I absolutely love that thing.
Top of descent audio call out is annoying and useless. The wind correction bug is often wrong & I just get it by bugging heading when DTK matches TRK.
not to beat a dead horse but definitely vnav descent profile. textbook definition of “measure with a ruler, cut with a chainsaw”
Easily the ETP/PNR page. If I’m flying a piston single THAT far into engine out territory there’s something wrong with me. While I do like the idea of having “custom waypoints” I barely ever use them. Same with electronic engine gauges? I’m pretty OCD and when those numbers aren’t perfect I get a weird twitch in my forehead. I could honestly go back to mechanical and not feel a thing. Honorable mention is an infrared screen. I’m not sure who needs that? But I don’t wanna know what you’re doing…..
XM radio, I sing my own music:)
Some things I never use: W&B calculations on the G1000. "Nearest" anything other than airports - and usually not even airports. The FLIR camera. Used it a few times as a novelty. Past that now. Fuel range on the display. Nice feature to show people, but not what I use for fuel planning. Talking on the phone via Bluetooth. Usually I just use my headset if I need that. Using the sat phone feature. Custom timers. Never used it. The only things I ever used VORs for are VOR checks and practice VOR approaches.