Um ... if anyone at Garmin would like to improve air passenger safety, they might want to consider this redesign.Lots of wasted screen space on the 1000.

Not really; the "wasted" space is to give the pilot a better frame of reference for the artificial horizon, and the size of the number readouts is quite sufficient IRL. Not to mention FS doesn't implement the entire thing, so there's even less wasted space on the real glass cockpit.

AFAIK the plan is that the "wasted" space will eventually be turned into a terrain projection a-la http://www.cheltonflightsystems.com/Prod_cert_symbology.html

I agree. All numbers (comm, nav, timer) are way too small for the otherwise excellent layout.

>Not really; the "wasted" space is to give the pilot a better>frame of reference for the artificial horizon, and the size of>the number readouts is quite sufficient IRL. Not to mention>FS doesn't implement the entire thing, so there's even less>wasted space on the real glass cockpit.Yep, it's true! The main, and important point of the screen is the large artifical horizon. Research found that these larger screens are almost as easy to adapt to, as looking out the windscreen. You wouldn't want to cover the big screen advantage with readouts that reduce the size of the AH to smaller conventional stuff.Of course, on the other hand, some find it hard to adapt to those "airspeed tapes".L.Adamson

You could argue in favor of such huge numbers but definitely not in color red. Any human factors expert would tell you that color red should only be reserved for critical/emergency type of information.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

Might also depend on your age in life-always had more than perfect eyes...until 6 months ago. Now approaching 50 my eyes have started taking a gradual but definite downturn. So the big numbers are looking better to me-but maybe not to the under 50 crowd!http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpgForum Moderatorhttp://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

I've actually flown with the G1000 and it is amazing I didnt realize any extra space.http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4vq5cvtTheres the real one in a DA40

They definitely have plenty of room to provide synthetic vision on their PFDs. I wonder why Garmin is not doing it. Synthetic vision greatly enhances pilot's terrain awareness.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

Michael,I certainly take your point. I chose red in this example really just as a way to make it obvious the change I was suggesting.What I'd really like to see is all 3 of those colors in BRIGHT GREEN ... turning to RED if one of these things happen:1) The heading indicator should turn red if the airplane significantly deviates from its planned flight (say, 10% deviation from the bug).2) The speed indicator should turn red if the airplane comes within 10% of stall speed.3) The altitude indicator should turn red if the terrain system indicates a problem with terrain (assuming the plane is equipped with a terrain warning system). Alternatively, if the plane enters a 20% nose-down attitude.The most critical information a pilot needs during a quick scan is (my view):Altitude, Speed, DirectionThose numbers should be larger than any other number by a factor of hundreds of percents. By making those three numbers a different color from all the other numbers, this would tend to bring the eye to those numbers.I appreciate the importance of the simulated horizon, but I believe that these larger numbers don't take away from that at all. It's hard to tell from the static shot, but the blue/brown color scheme indicating ground/sky provides significant indication of the artificial horizon such that I don't think the larger numbers obscuring that would impact a pilot's awareness at all.Anyway ... it was a fun exercise, and I'm glad it stimulated some comments.

All,Here is the improved version.I think this demonstrates that the larger numbers don't in fact, interfere with the pilot's awareness of the artificial horizon.This one also demonstrates the improved color scheme. The red color in the heading indicates to the pilot that he's deviated from his planned route (more than 10% away from the bug.)Comments and criticisms welcome!

You may find these large numbers somewhat annoying, as they're constantly changing during climbs, descents, or course changes. You'll soon be begging for standard analog dials! :-hah L.Adamson

Check out http://estore.mc.com/vistanav/ - $4000 for a fully functional synthetic vision system on a tablet.As far as Garmin is concerned, the road to a certified panel mount system is long and tortuous. And, while the FAA is working very hard at it, the certification procedure for such systems is still being designed. Then factor in the cost, the current accuracy of terrain databases, etc., etc..I imagine they are working on it and it will be released when it is ready.If I remember correctly, Garmin was not the first to market with panel mount GPS systems, but they did it right and shot right to the top of the market.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

>Check out http://estore.mc.com/vistanav/ - $4000 for a fully>functional synthetic vision system on a tablet.>>As far as Garmin is concerned, the road to a certified panel>mount system is long and tortuous. And, while the FAA is>working very hard at it, the certification procedure for such>systems is still being designed. Then factor in the cost, the>current accuracy of terrain databases, etc., etc..I know this. But they already provide terrain database (certified ?) so the only thing remaining is to put it in front of the pilot in proper perspective.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

>This one also demonstrates the improved color scheme. The red>color in the heading indicates to the pilot that he's deviatedI am telling you - this is another bad usgae of red color. For being close (at) the stall speed - that's ok but for heading deviation it is no-no. Human factors folks think long and hard before they use red color.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg