G1000 transistion training - emergencies - final flight
For the final flight in my G1000 transition course we focused on failure scenarios. Not the "engine goes POOF" kind but the avionics kind.
Normal situation
This picture shows what the 2 Garmin screens show in a normal (non failure) situation. You can see we have 2 screens - the left PFD focusing on flight performance (airspeed, heading, attitude, altitude) and the right screen (MFD) focusing on engine data, mapping, checklists, and everything else.
Failed PFD screen
In this scenario the screen that is right in front of you (the PFD) has failed. This basically means the screen has gone dark. We simulate that by dimming the screen down to 0% brightness. After darkening the PFD we shot a GPS approach into Rock Hill.
When this failure has occured you shift the G1000 into Reversionary mode. That means the info that is normally split across 2 screens is now merged into 1. It actually duplicates the same data on both screens, but since the PFD screen is no longer functioning you only have the MFD to look to.
This means you spend a lot of time lookng over to the right and reaching over to push buttons or twist knobs. It wasn't too bad though I would certainly rather lose just the MFD than the PFD. My instructor and I talked about whether you were declare an emergency in that case. I think if I was in hard IFR conditions (or very dark night conditions) I would definately declare it, otherwise not.
This is what the MFD looks like for this failure:
Note how the engine instruments are sown, along with the primary flight instruments. This is also how the PFD looks when you are first starting up the aircraft and have not yet turned on all the electrical power (when the MFD is still turned off).
A nice side effect of the reversionary mode is that someone could fly from the right seat quite comfortably because this mode puts all the standard instruments right in front of both seats.
The big drawback with this mode is that you lose most of the MFD functionality - approach plates, airport data, checklists, XM radio, etc. You can still see lightning and NEXRAD on the small inset map though, which is no doubt very nice if you were in the clouds.
Failed AHRS
One of the most serious failures is loss of the AHRS (said: A-HARS). That component provides the artificial horizon and heading data for the G1000. The Air Data Computer (ADC) is responsible for providing altitude and airspeed data to the system. If you lose both of those, as we practiced, you are in for some serious work in IFR conditions.
In that situation, your PFD looks like this:
We simulated this by attaching a cardboard cover over the PFD that covers the instruments with the Xs on them in the above picture. This just left the comm/nav freq data at the top and the glideslope and CDI (the magenta line under the HDG).
With this failure you have to look at your standby "steam" gauges and the magnetic compass. I also used the moving map on the MFD to help with heading and general situational awareness. We shot two ILS approaches like this and it was an eye opener. While you still have a lot of capability in the airplane, even in this situation, you are looking all over the place for the info you need. This is certainly a time to declare an emergency if in IFR conditions. For all of these emergencies if conditions are VFR you would have little trouble at all. That means that I would do my best to get back into VFR conditions if possible if this ever happened to me.
With those 3 approaches finished I was signed off for an IPC (Instrument Proficiency Check) which means I am IFR current for a while.
I am also cleared to fly the G1000 solo which I plan to do soon!
Normal situation
This picture shows what the 2 Garmin screens show in a normal (non failure) situation. You can see we have 2 screens - the left PFD focusing on flight performance (airspeed, heading, attitude, altitude) and the right screen (MFD) focusing on engine data, mapping, checklists, and everything else.
Failed PFD screen
In this scenario the screen that is right in front of you (the PFD) has failed. This basically means the screen has gone dark. We simulate that by dimming the screen down to 0% brightness. After darkening the PFD we shot a GPS approach into Rock Hill.
When this failure has occured you shift the G1000 into Reversionary mode. That means the info that is normally split across 2 screens is now merged into 1. It actually duplicates the same data on both screens, but since the PFD screen is no longer functioning you only have the MFD to look to.
This means you spend a lot of time lookng over to the right and reaching over to push buttons or twist knobs. It wasn't too bad though I would certainly rather lose just the MFD than the PFD. My instructor and I talked about whether you were declare an emergency in that case. I think if I was in hard IFR conditions (or very dark night conditions) I would definately declare it, otherwise not.
This is what the MFD looks like for this failure:
Note how the engine instruments are sown, along with the primary flight instruments. This is also how the PFD looks when you are first starting up the aircraft and have not yet turned on all the electrical power (when the MFD is still turned off).A nice side effect of the reversionary mode is that someone could fly from the right seat quite comfortably because this mode puts all the standard instruments right in front of both seats.
The big drawback with this mode is that you lose most of the MFD functionality - approach plates, airport data, checklists, XM radio, etc. You can still see lightning and NEXRAD on the small inset map though, which is no doubt very nice if you were in the clouds.
Failed AHRS
One of the most serious failures is loss of the AHRS (said: A-HARS). That component provides the artificial horizon and heading data for the G1000. The Air Data Computer (ADC) is responsible for providing altitude and airspeed data to the system. If you lose both of those, as we practiced, you are in for some serious work in IFR conditions.
In that situation, your PFD looks like this:
We simulated this by attaching a cardboard cover over the PFD that covers the instruments with the Xs on them in the above picture. This just left the comm/nav freq data at the top and the glideslope and CDI (the magenta line under the HDG).With this failure you have to look at your standby "steam" gauges and the magnetic compass. I also used the moving map on the MFD to help with heading and general situational awareness. We shot two ILS approaches like this and it was an eye opener. While you still have a lot of capability in the airplane, even in this situation, you are looking all over the place for the info you need. This is certainly a time to declare an emergency if in IFR conditions. For all of these emergencies if conditions are VFR you would have little trouble at all. That means that I would do my best to get back into VFR conditions if possible if this ever happened to me.
With those 3 approaches finished I was signed off for an IPC (Instrument Proficiency Check) which means I am IFR current for a while.
I am also cleared to fly the G1000 solo which I plan to do soon!
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