Fraction of Steam Gauges/ G1000 / GTN750 in RL?

[pmb 5,138]

Hi,

I'm not a real live pilot. I just wonder what's the estimated fraction of Steam Gauges / G1000 glass cockpits / GTN750s in the planes of today's average RL flight school.

When I make a sightseeing flight now and then, I'm usually taken to 20+ years old C172s or R400s or the like and none of those I've been in so far had a glass cockpit. Often, these are flight school machines which just are used for sightseeing as a side income. Mainly, I am interested in the GA aircraft I find in MSFS.

Thanks for any report, Michael

[sd_flyer 6,108]

I can't tell for the whole world, but local trend is many steam gauges GA aircraft got retrofitted with partial or full aftermarket "glass". And it became a real trend in many local clubs. Basically renters love glass so many owners reponds. I have notice that Aspen and Dynon are particularly popular choices due their lower pricing comparing with Garmin

 

[DavidP 1,424]

In my part of the world, it depends on the type of flight school.

"Sausage factory" schools as we call them, such as CAE/Oxford will have glass as they have the financial resources.

"Mum & Dad" schools or aero clubs like the one I instruct at may have limited resources if they actually own any aircraft at all, will most likely have steam as they don't have the resources for a retrofit.

The average owner who cross hires to a school will probably shirk at the cost of a retrofit and stay with steam. There are exceptions though - the introduction of lower cost G5 and Garmin GNSS units sees the odd owner retrofit.

I retrofitted my M20M some years ago, but I don't hire it out.

Edited June 5, 2021 by DavidP

[pmb 5,138]

Thanks guys, interesting. I understand, money is a very limiting factor with the GTN750 at the upper end, I guess. Of course it's the most comfortable option, at least I recognize in sim.,

Kind regards, Michael

[ryanbatc 13,104]

Larger flight schools in the US are all glass cockpit.  G1000 NXi etc.  Probably a few Avidynes out there too.

Otherwise for the smaller ones you'll find a mix of analogue and half glass etc.