Where: Fly to Marsh Harbor (MYAM) located on Abaco in the Bahamas. Captain Robbie of Pura Vida will pick you up at the Boat Harbor Marina and take you to Lubbers Cay to enjoy your own private island paradise. Perfect!

When: Anytime you need a break

How: If you are not familiar with how to make international flights to the Bahamas then we recommend you get involved with Bahamas Habitat to learn the ropes of flying to the island. They have a pilot briefing video on their website. Sign up for their info for notices about future group flights.

What to do: The flying is beautiful, the boating on crystal clear waters is devine, diving, snorkeling, beaching, shelling, exploring and the local seafood are all outstanding. If you are into fishing then you have found the best. Captain Robbie and his well equipped “Freespool” sport fishing boat stand ready at the dock to ply the deep blue of the Atlantic for billfish and delicious dinner! There is also a 4 bedroom catamaran available by the day or week. Everything you need for the ultimate adventure getaway!

Visit for more details: http://www.puravidacottages.com/thecottages.htm

One of the most enjoyable things we get to do here at GlassPilot.com is actually use these wonderful airplanes we are always talking about and providing for sale. We search out special fly-in destinations and adventures to alert our readers so they can take full advantage of the lifestyle changing potential of their aircraft.  Today we are here to tell you that if you have not flown to Maine then you need to add that to your list of things to do!

Over Labor Day this year I needed to pick up a Diamond DA40 XLS I had bought that was based in New Hampshire. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to combine a little business with pleasure so my wife and I packed up and headed North. The aircraft was ready to go and in outstanding shape (Aircraft for sale: see photos & details). We took off from the old Pease Airforce Base KPSM in Portsmouth NH which used to be a Strategic Air Command base so the runway is only 11,321ft!

Upon departure we stayed at 1000ft all the way up the coast to KBHB – Bar Harbor Maine. This is simple a “must do flight”. The coast is so scenic and dramatic with its lighthouses, rocky shore, mountains, quaint villages, boats and lots of lobster pots. My wife was simply pointing and saying wow the whole way. You’ll pass Kennebunkport, Portland, Rockland and numerous villages which all look so quaint and classic Maine from the air with their boat packed harbors and lobster pot buoys dotting every inch of water. The extreme visibility the Diamond DA40 XLS offers makes a trip like this a truly magical experience.

When you arrive at KBHB it is a must to circle Acadia National Park and see the splendor of the pink granite peaks of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island. If we still used film this would be the preverbal ”Film Gobbler!” Take time to study the island from the air as you’ll be exploring it by foot, bike, car or bus during your visit. Passing to the north you’ll fly in over Frenchman’s Bay with Bar Harbor on your left and the airport just a bit further to the west. Be on the alert for traffic including biplane sight seeing craft, gliders and of course other private and some commuter aircraft coming in to KBHB.

As fly-in destinations go you’ll find few better than Bar Harbor. The amazing  scenery is complimented by a great airport and easy access to transportation. There are two car rental agencies in the little terminal and the FREE buses run on a regular schedule to take you on to the island. The free busses are there to encourage you to skip the car and enjoy the island by  bus and bikes. The propane powered buses all have bike racks to make the process work wonderfully. Several shops in Bar Harbor offer “comfort mountain bikes” that are truly comfortable with soft seats and suspensions. Not having a car was a blessing for us and made moving around easy. If you are in a hurry grab a cab as the airport bus does up to 45 minutes due to the stops along the way. The cab is less than $40 and is over in about 15 minutes.

There are beautiful carriage trails throughout the park that are fantastic for touring the park. You can take the bus out to a starting point and ride till you’ve had enough and catch the bus back. They are all graded so none of the hills are extreme and there are lots of easy and flat loops. What could be better?

You’ll have your choice of Bed & Breakfast Inn’s and various motel & hotel options to suit many different styles. The village of Bar Harbor has lots of fun shops, great food and plenty of exploring to do by foot or bike. After two days all we could say was, “we have got to plan to come back!”. Next time we’ll take advantage of whale watching tours, kayaking and some more hiking.

If you are looking for an active adventure for the whole family or a romantic get away for you and your partner you could do no better than a flight to Bar Harbor Maine. I’ve included some photos here and a link to our entire suite of photos. Feel free to leave comments or questions.

The Great Western Adventure

Our first leg was 503 nm from Newport News VA (PHF) to Smyrna TN (MQY) then to Addison TX (ADS) for another 542 nm. The weather was getting unstable towards the last leg but with XM WX and ARTCC looking at the storm cells we rerouted around them and kept a healthy distance from the building cells.

The next day we set out to Roswell NM (ROW) for gas and lunch. There were no aliens to be found but the scenery over the desert was spectacular. At ROW we replanned our route because of nasty storms near Albequerque and went south towards El Paso to get around the restricted area enroute to Chandler AZ (CHD) outside of Phoenix. We had a great dinner at the “Top of the Rock” that overlooks the Phoenix skyline.

At that point, we were thinking about heading back to home base and maybe trying to catch a glimpse of the Grand Canyon when we happened to meet a fellow aviator at our hotel who was watching us scheme and plan. His advice was, “You can’t be Lewis and Clark if you almost get near the Pacific and then go home”. Well, that was enough of a friendly poke to rethink the next flight and Catalina Island (AVX) was only 2+30 away so westward ho we went to collect trinkets and souvenirs to keep the homefront pacified. The weather around southern California was beautiful and the airport at Catalina was interesting with the 1500’ drop off at either end. It felt like looking at a carrier deck again, but with no arresting wires! Socal approach was helpful in vectoring us clear of the LAX traffic too.

Out of Catalina, we headed towards Vegas and landed in Barstow-Dagget CA (DAG) in the high desert for gas. We had been reading about flying in the Grand Canyon, and that was our next destination. The G1000 was a big help in allowing us to input lat/long user waypoints to mark the beginning and end of two of the VFR corridors. We got the chart, read up on the procedures and set off for a photo recce of the canyon. We also figured out why we were the only crazy aviators to be flying in the afternoon….the winds were high, it was hot outside and the turbulence was rough. We stayed at the corridor altitudes (11,500 and 10,500) just to have more options if we had to make an emergency landing, but the pictures came out great anyway. We bumped our way over the canyon then decided to forget the second corridor and keep heading to Albuquerque NM.

The last day was the longest flying day. We took off early in the morning as the balloons were rising north of Albuquerque, climbed east between the mountains and over the interstate, then settled in as the terrain below turned from desert to the plains of West Texas to trees again in Oklahoma and Missouri. This leg was 724 nm and took 5+45 to get to West Plains MO (UNO) with perfect VFR conditions. We needed to stand for a while and hoped to borrow the courtesy car but alas it had just had a flat tire. But we talked to a guy in the FBO (Jack Bowman) who happened to be the airport manager for the county (Pomona MO) and he offered to take us to a nearby restaurant that had great hamburgers and local fare. Jack turned out to also be the local auctioneer, guitar player in a country band and motorcycle rider with the local club.

Out of UNO, we filed direct to Bristol TN and actually got it. That seems to never happen in our local neck of the woods. Storms in the southeast were building rapidly and ARTCC and the XM WX helped keep us to the north of the storm systems. We had a few pop up cells but we could visually stay clear and center was getting flight plan deviation requests from everybody including us. The flight from Bristol (TRI) to Newport News was at night and we got to see a picturesque red moonrise. It was a long day with 1500 nm of flying but was worth it to see the landscapes of the states we had travelled across.

A few observations we made:
1. The G1000/GFC 700 autopilot was a great help. We alternated flying each leg and exercised the knobs and buttons to the fullest on the G1000. In 36 hours of flying you have a lot of time to fiddle with every function and button on the system. SVT is a great invention.
2. We planned for an emergency landing in the desert by packing tents, sleeping bags, survival tools and water.
3. We had a backup portable gps and portable radio with lots of batteries.
4. The controllers will generally work with you if you are prepared and considerate of them. Diverting left and right of course to get around cells was never a problem and several controllers offered different routing to bypass storm cells. The XM WX was generally agreeing to what the controllers were painting on their radar. We realized the satellite picture was dated but it did provide a strategic picture.
5. There are some real characters at the airports and places we visited. Talking with those folks really made the trip.
6. After flying a long leg (anything approaching 4+00) we made a pact to go get something to eat and be away from the plane for at least an hour.
7. The next time, we want to stay for a while in some of the places we landed and see more of the towns, attractions and friends. This was a good trail blazer. Now we have no excuses for that DAA fly-in in Utah!
8. The calculated fuel burn was a couple of gallons higher than the actual fuel burn. The fuel gages were dead on accurate.
9. I’d do it again! (But I need a few days to recover).

I participate in these and they are truly a fantastic experience. I encourage all of you to put your aircraft to good use and join in. Check out all the details at www.bahamashabitat.org.

GP

If Pigs could fly they’d likely head out for that fabled $100 hamburger. But pilots in the south revere southern style pork BBQ so what could be better than flying in for a classic BBQ meal? Not much!

You are in luck. You are invited to fly to and land at a private strip for a great barbeque meal in central North Carolina. If you don’t believe me, and want to make sure you have permission to land, simply call the number you find on Airnav.com for Gilliam-McConnell Airfield and you’ll hear Roland Gilliam on the answering machine say, “If you are calling for permission to land, you got it. Come on!”

You won’t likely find 5NC3 in your GPS database but no worries…just plug in the coordinates or if you are still using those ancient VOR things, you’ll find the field 10.6 miles north east of SDZ on the 049 radial.

You won’t find any tall fences or security systems. Landing at Gilliam-McConnell field is like going back in time…back to a time when things were simple and you could just land in the field next to the restaurant and stop in for a bite. Well the strip is a smooth level paved affair 2538 feet long and the restaurant sits mid field not more than 100 ft off the center line. Twin engine craft base at the field and the owner says the odd King Air has dropped in on occasion, so most of our GlassPilot types will slip in with room to spare.

I had heard through the grapevine about this place last year and made a point to check it out last fall. Boy what a thrill. On this particular day I was making the point of taking my good friend, aviation mentor and instructor, Steve Merritt in for dinner. You’ll be hearing from Steve in the future as our resident GlassPilot CFI editor and G1000 flight training expert.  Our mission this day was to practice commercial pilot maneuvers, but the real purpose of course was to treat Steve to the unique experience of Gilliam Field and the Pik-N-Pig. For once, it was something I’d experienced in aviation that he had not yet enjoyed…(a first I think).

After a half dozen lazy eights we landed about 7:00 PM on a cool late summer evening. It was a perfect flying day and we pulled off at the turn off with ease. Dinner at the Pik-N-Pig was in full swing as the entire patio watched our landing. We pulled off in the grass and strolled over. The place was packed inside and out and we timed it perfect for an outdoor table on the patio. Several diners came over to comment on our pretty landing and ask about our sparkly new Diamond aircraft.

I ordered up the pulled pork plate with green beans and black-eyed peas. Steve selected the special, a “Pork Sundae“. You’ll have to go to just see it for yourself.  All the meat is slow cooked on hickory wood fired grills so the flavor is just right. If its ribs you like you’ll find some of the largest I’ve ever seen.

I snapped a few pictures and ended up chatting with Roland Gilliam the owner and builder of the airport. Roland joined us for a while to chat about the airport and of course airplanes. He had just been flying his sailplane that day and had been up for 4 hours.

We enjoyed hearing about his aircraft projects, towing banners, the construction business and stories about flying to the Bahamas. We shared about our involvement in the Bahamas Habitat (www.bahamashabitat.org) and invited Roland to join us for the next Fly-In and Help Out Event to help with the construction projects there. Roland lit up and said, “I might just join you fellas…that sounds like a good thing.”

Roland said he paved the strip on election day in 1996. Now he has a gift shop as part of the restaurant. As he describes it…”I’ve got a lot of items for the ladies and a few for the pilots too.” I saw lots of flying pigs among the memorabilia.

But there is more! When you come, bring your golf clubs. Yes, there is a driving range right beside the restaurant that operates on the honor system of $3 a bucket. 5NC3 is only 7 miles from Southern Pines Airport (KSOP Moore County) so if you want to make it part of a golf weekend you are off to a great start.

What more could you ask for…a great meal, a bucket of balls and a fun flight to a new unique destination with something for the whole family where everyone is friendly and glad you flew in.

As the sun set, the patio was full of families relaxing and enjoying the evening. Two young boys were throwing balsa airplanes in the grass just off the patio and the scene was just perfect or as Steve would say, “Outstanding!” We did not want to leave but pulled ourselves away as a family with four kids was hanging on the split rail fence waiting to watch us take off. That’s what I call classic…taking your kids out to dinner so they can watch airplanes.

The more I fly these modern composite magic carpets with their amazing G1000 synthetic vision wonders, the more I seem to appreciate how far aviation has come. In no way does it lessen my love and interest in the full nostalgia of aviation’s past but only makes me realize how special it all is. Men like Roland Gilliam stand large by expressing their love for flying in these tangible ways that can have a great impact on us all. A trip to Gilliam-McConnell Airfield is simply a must to experience. Thank you Roland!

So, whether you fly in for lunch or make it a date and bring your wife or girl fiend for a special dinner, or bring the kids and have them experience something they will remember, remember to tell Roland we sent you!

A few things to remember
You have permission to land.
The restaurant is open 11:00AM to 8:00PM Tuesday through Saturday and 12:00 to 3:00 PM Sundays.5NC3 is only 62 miles from Concord, 118 miles from Columbia or about 155 miles from Richmond so it’s an easy hop from most of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The food is great, the people are friendly and the experience is simply outstanding.

Many pilots are familiar with the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum at the main Smithsonian museum on the Washington DC mall. However, I find that many pilots are not yet aware of or have not been to the massive new expansion to this amazing museum that was added.

In December of 2003 the Smithsonian opened the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport as a major new addition to their Air & Space Museum on the Washington DC mall. This new facility is nothing short of astounding and if you are one of us that is smitten with aviation it is simply a must see destination.

The location of the new center is just south west of the final approach for runway 1R at Dulles. This adds to the entertainment of the center as large jets are typically landing overhead as you park your car and head in to the modern entrance.

Once inside you’ll simply be amazed. It is not just the volume of aircraft included but the scope that covers literally almost every famous aircraft from the J3 Cub to the SR71 Blackbird, SST and Space Shuttle and everything in between.

Entrance to the center is only $12 per car load. There is an IMAX theater that also is showing interesting and impressive films. Each time I’ve been I’ve not passed up the chance to enjoy an IMAX experience and I’ve never been disappointed by one yet. There are full motion simulators of several varieties you can fly and a control tower with air traffic control education exhibits.

Since the center is located about 20 miles from Leesburg airport to the north or 18 miles to Manassas Airport to the south, pilots have excellent choices for the type of airport they’d like to use and how they’d like to organize their visit. It’s very easy to land at either of these GA friendly airports, grab a car and be to the center in about a half hour.

If you are happy operating into the KIAD environment then that is an option. Make sure you check landing fees at KIAD as part of your planning. Neither Leesburg or Manassas has landing fees and access is quite easy. Manassas also has an Amtrak station that can take you into downtown DC if you want to add that to your trip but don’t want to drive into downtown. You can check schedules and prices at the Amtrak site. Station IDs are: Manassas (MSS) and Washington DC (WAS). If you’ve got the whole family along it will likely be less expensive to get the rental car and drive in the about 40 miles headed east on Route 66.

So, whether you make it a day trip to fly in and visit just the new Udvar-Hazy Center or an extended weekend that includes a run into DC, you’ll be glad you put this on your must see list. You can of course spend all day in the Center but if you are on the day trip plan I would suggest you reserve at least 4 hours for the visit to do it the minimum justice it deserves!

GlassPilot.com brings you great information on glass panel modern aircraft but its time to jump in one of these birds and fly off to some fun places! Our hope is that we’ll inspire you to take off to fun places in your aircraft. Not the usual $100 hamburger stops but fun outings that will build memories of a life time.

When a brand new DA40 XLS with Synthetic Vision arrived as my demonstrator, I decided I needed a mountain destination to try out the wonders of this new technology so I could provide you folks and my customers real life reports on the value of the new system as soon as possible. I had the perfect trip in mind… a day trip to Abingdon VA for a family bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail.

If you’ve never heard of the Virginia Creeper Trail we need to get you up to speed on this unique national trail. The trail is an old rail bed starting on the top of Whitetop Mountain near Mount Roger National Recreational Area and winds its way 35 miles gently through Damascus VA on to Abingdon VA. Along the way you ride through large old growth forests, down beautiful sloping creeksides with waterfalls on to open pastures and rolling hills.

If you are not much of a bike rider, you’ll be in good company. Nothing could be easier since the grade is the perfect down hill run (read no peddling required). Most of the trail is a pack cinder two lane affair and some athletic types do actually pass you by going up hill huffing and puffing rather than enjoying the very civilized down hill run.

The entire area around Damascus and Abingdon is all about serving the bikers and hikers. Damascus is in fact a major refueling point for the Appalachian Trail “through hikers” that start off in Georgia in the early spring with hopes of reaching the fabled Mount Katahdin in Maine before it closes in mid October because of the extreme weather that comes by then. If you go in June or early July you’ll likely cross paths with this hikers.

Let’s Fly In
So getting to this great destination is quite easy. For us it was only a 164 NM flight direct from Raleigh Durham. A quick look at typical 2 hour flight ring around KVJI places a very large group you you out there within day tripping distance for this adventure from Frederick Maryland to Norfolk, VA to Savannah Georgia to Louisville Kentucky.

On our day of departure storms where hovering along the mountain ranges to the west and we were crossing our fingers for decent weather for the day. We had clear skies all the way until 30 miles from Abingdon. Storms had crossed the mountain ridge and so we entered actual conditions at 8000 feet inbound to KVJI. The XM weather showed rain around the airport and closing in. This was perfect for checking out the new SVT in actual conditions but not ideal for bike riding. We pressed on and set up for the localizer approach for runway 24 from the north outside WHINE intersection. (an aside: what a great name for an intersection…one day I want to meet the person(s) that name all the intersections) My only complaint for VJI is they don’t have an LPV WAAS approach yet to really show off the SVT. At the rapid pace the FAA is rolling out WAAS approaches it can’t be far away.

In one way, maybe that was better, because we did not have vertical guidance so the power of the SVT really did start to shine as serious tool and comfort aid. Here we were in the clouds and rain letting down into this mountain valley with no vertical guidance other than the usual timer and the 500 feet per minute decent. What showed up of course goes beyond providing comfort. Through the scud the entire time I was looking at the white outline of the runway from 6000 feet.

It was a simple as pointing the flight marker in the SVT display on the end of the runway and watching the timer. The display of the mountains on either side was uncanny to experience while being in the clouds during the decent. Planting the flight marker on the end of the runway gave the perfect descent angle and we popped out at 1600 feet AGL in misty rain with the runway lights in sight. As we rolled to a tie down spot, the rain really cut loose and I noticed how accurate the Nextrad radar was on the screen.

I simply can’t over stress the difference I felt using the SVT with my family on board in the weather in the mountains. I’m no airline captain or military jock with tons of flight hours. In fact the ink has hardly dried on my instrument rating so when it comes to technology like SVT I have to communicate to you guys out there that this new wrinkle makes all the difference in the world about how you are going to feel in real conditions with your important cargo aboard. I particularly like the way it allows me to relax and enjoy the process of flying the plane and the approach.

The unnerving part is how quickly my 13 year old picked up on using the Pathway boxes and the flight marker. To him its just another video game. The fact that a non-pilot of any age can pick up in minutes and fly an approach with precision means its a better mousetrap…one I’ve been dreaming of for decades. If you’ve never studied the SVT technology here are two links to view: SVT powerpoint download and a video

Let’s Ride!
A quick call to the bike shop and they popped over to pick us up. We had made our reservations and arrangements for a pickup in advance with Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop located in Abingdon. We chose them because they are the closest to the airport and happy to pick up flyers. If you end up deciding to stay over in Damascus or Abingdon here is a full list of shops serving the trail.

Though the weather was bit daunting, these guys were all smiles. Within minutes we were at their well equipped shop getting fitted with our bikes, helmets and snacks. Within 15 minutes we were heading off in the van to the top of the trail. Sam, our friendly van driver, enjoyed sharing local lore and facts with us on the winding 35 mile ride. Sam grew up in Damascus so he was able to tell us the history of how the trains ended in 1977 and it was a ghost town until the bike trail came along.

Our family enjoys biking so dropping us off at Whitetop Station with a bike was like dropping tadpoles in the shallow end. The first thing you notice about the trail is how perfect the grade is. Just right! You’ll definitely use the brakes more than the peddles. This map shows the elevations and grades.

The first section of the trail takes you through beautiful old growth forest of hardwoods. I was stopping off at the trail side to show my kids what sassafras trees look like and having them rub the leaves in their hands to get that unique citrus smell they offer.

The first stop of interest on the trail is at Green Cove Station. this is a history site maintained by the Forest Service. You step inside and it is like stepping back in time. The potbelly stove is right there and you can vividly imagine the locals sitting around the stove once you’ve looked at a few of the historic photos of the place displayed around the station. The station is stocked with fun memorabilia and little items you can buy. I couldn’t pass up the Virginia Creeper Trail patches.

As you continue down the trail a creek comes along side and we were constantly looking for waterfalls and pretty little stops along the creek. Of course the farther you go the bigger the creek becomes. We enjoyed bouldering around and skipping rocks at flat bends in the creek. The next thing you notice is the wood bridges that keep popping up for you to cross. Each one offers a chance to get a different view of the creek or vista. By this time we are completely hooked on the beauty of the trail. We have to keep stopping to take pictures…its a real “film gobbler” so bring plenty of film/memory and batteries!

The best first “swimming hole” is between bridge 36 and 35. There are more and more as you continue on down the trail. The next major stop Tayloy’s Valley and lunch! Everything on this day was perfect and the lunch stop left nothing to be desired. Right along the river, there it was, the Virginia Creeper Cafe! They had tons of out door seating and a cheeseburger that would make Jimmy Buffett break out into his famous chorus of a “Cheeseburger in Paradise“. All that “exercise” had built up an appetite so we loaded up with double fries and cheeseburgers “all the way”.

So when you plan to go on this great flying adventure make sure you leave the picnic behind. If you can save room for desert, the chocolate cake at the Cafe is famous…just looking at it will put extra pressure on your back tire.

With all the fun we’d had up through lunch I could have called it a day and headed home but we were only half way! All our lallygagging and over fueling at lunch had us in need of some peddle powering so we picked up the pace and enjoyed the continuous stream of gorgeous scenery and waterfalls. We’d see the occasional fly fisherman but mostly you just tool along enjoying the beauty of the stream to yourself.

Our pick up at the Damascus red caboose was scheduled for 4:30 and I really did not want this ride to end. I was wishing I’d arranged to go the full distance all the way back to Abingdon. We said many times during the day, “Wow, we have got to come back and do this again!”

The rain came again during the last half mile of our ride so we got a bit damp. No worries as we’d brought a change of clothes and got changed back at the shop. We made a quick tour of downtown Abingdon before it was time to head to the airport. The quaint nature of Abingdon had me wanting to come back just so spend some time in the little village.

This is a near perfect day trip for a family. The kids loved it. If I wanted a romantic getaway with my wife, a two night stay would be perfect. I’d fly in on Friday evening and stay in one of the many quaint bed and breakfast inns and do the whole trail on Saturday. I’d bum around Abingdon on Sunday before an easy flight home. If you want to really impress her you could stay in downtown Abingdon at the Martha Washington Inn. We did not stay over but we did enjoy a coffee on their grand front porch and even that was a treat.

We waited at the airport for a thunder bumper to pass on to the North East before leaving. This is a good point to mention my favorite pilot weather tools because they really come in handy on these type trips. If you are not already accessing weather on your cell phone in a way that works you need to check it out. My favorite is the Apple iPhone which provides easy full access to regular weather web sites like www.aviationweather.gov and specially formated sights like foreflight.com.

I’ve had my iPhone for coming up a year now and can easily say its web access ability is simply the best. The phone itself is not the greatest I’ve ever owned but for the pilot that needs access to full moving radar and easy IFR filing the iPhone wins my thumbs up over anything else I’ve seen. The ability to file flight plans in the palm of your hand and get the weather brief like you are at a computer seems like to me the perfect George Jetson compliment to the wonder of these modern glass aircraft. I encourage all pilots that plan to use their plans for traveling and especially IFR travel that they get a cell phone that supports the need.

Once in the air the Synthetic Vision with Pathways was again a real treat in the mountain terrain. My son Ben wanted to hand fly the leg and I could easily see how the flight market and boxes were teaching him how to hold heading and altitude quicker than anything I’ve ever seen.

The Garmin G1000 XM weather display once again showed challenging thunderstorms and the access to this info made our flight decisions a snap for deviation around them. The extent of the info available is what is so outstanding. You not only can check the weather easily at your destination but all along the route and at alternates.

For those of you that have not experienced this level of capability in an aircraft panel I encourage you find a way to try it. During your first flight you’ll start to realize the G1000 with SVT is not just an expensive steam gauge replacement but a completely different flying experience. Some people automatically assume that with the vast capabilities of the G1000 system they would not use all that info or features. My experience has been that I use the vast majority of major features on every flight and boy does it all make a difference. I’ll summarize the flight aspects of this trip this way. Due to the marginal weather on this family trip, there are numerous steam gauge aircraft I’ve flown in the past that I would not have been nearly as comfortable taking on this jaunt. I would have likely scrubbed the trip based on the forecast. I’m not saying the other aircraft I’m thinking of were not capable; I’m saying that my proficiency and comfort in the new glass with SVT versus the traditional steam gauge aircraft continues to be on a completely different plane

Happy Landings!

John
GlassPilot.com