Mastering the G1000 Flight Plan Catalog
Intro
Going missed at your destination and needing to go to your alternate is the last time you want to be heads-down programming the box. Similarly, getting direct to the next initial approach fix on an instrument training flight or checkride is an opportunity to mess up: you could drift off altitude, punch the wrong fix in, etc. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to set things up in the G1000 to eliminate much of this trouble while you’re still on the ground. All it takes is a minute in the runup box, some knowledge, and a game plan. Remember, instrument flying is just three things:
- Flying the airplane, ideally as boringly as possible.
- Planning things out ahead time so you can focus on #1.
- Trapping errors so you can focus on #1 and #2.
Background
When I taught instrument students in the Seattle area, we had a common flow for training flights and stage checks: launch off Renton, do the ILS 17 into Tacoma, then go to ZOLGI for the hold-in-lieu of procedure turn into the RNAV 02 circle 20 at Bremerton, and vectors back for the RNAV 16 into Renton. This circuit let you get a lot done in a short time frame, and was a great opportunity for students to show great ADM and planning. Below is a rough track log of such a flight, and an overlay of the Tacoma ILS 17 into the HILPT at Bremerton.
A common IFR training or evaluation circuit in the PNW.
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The missed from the ILS 17 KTIW sets you up to head right in to the HILPT at ZOLGI.
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The telling moment was checking back in on the missed at Tacoma. You’d get two flavors of this:
Unprepared Student: Cessna 123, 1400 climbing 2000 missed approach Tacoma.
Controller: Cessna 123, radar contact, what do you want next?
Unprepared Student: 123 request ZOLGI for the RNAV 02 Bremerton.
Controller: Roger, 123 cleared direct ZOLGI, maintain 3000.
Unprepared Student: Direct ZOLGI, 3000, 123.
The unprepared student would then furiously edit the flight plan to edit the destination, load the next approach, and activate everything while still in the turn and resetting the altitude selector to 3000, often getting frazzled in the process. These high-workload situations are error factories, so it’s best to reduce the workload, engineer time, and otherwise slow it down to avoid making mistakes. The prepared and knowledgeable student would have this interaction with the controller:
Prepared Student: Cessna 123, 1400 climbing 2000 missed approach Tacoma.
Controller: Cessna 123, radar contact, what do you want next?
Prepared Student: 123 requesting vectors toward ZOLGI for the hold in lieu, then RNAV 02 circle 20 published missed.
Controller: Roger, 123 fly heading 260, direct ZOLGI when able, maintain 3000.
Prepared Student: Heading 260, direct ZOLGI when able, 3000, 123.
This student would then spin the heading bug to 260, set 3000, take a deep breath, manage their flight path, and then load the approach from their secondary flight plan and proceed direct. After 30 seconds, they’d pile on with “123 direct ZOLGI.” Let’s dive in and see what that student did differently and how we can do it ourselves.
Unprepared Student: Cessna 123, 1400 climbing 2000 missed approach Tacoma.
Controller: Cessna 123, radar contact, what do you want next?
Unprepared Student: 123 request ZOLGI for the RNAV 02 Bremerton.
Controller: Roger, 123 cleared direct ZOLGI, maintain 3000.
Unprepared Student: Direct ZOLGI, 3000, 123.
The unprepared student would then furiously edit the flight plan to edit the destination, load the next approach, and activate everything while still in the turn and resetting the altitude selector to 3000, often getting frazzled in the process. These high-workload situations are error factories, so it’s best to reduce the workload, engineer time, and otherwise slow it down to avoid making mistakes. The prepared and knowledgeable student would have this interaction with the controller:
Prepared Student: Cessna 123, 1400 climbing 2000 missed approach Tacoma.
Controller: Cessna 123, radar contact, what do you want next?
Prepared Student: 123 requesting vectors toward ZOLGI for the hold in lieu, then RNAV 02 circle 20 published missed.
Controller: Roger, 123 fly heading 260, direct ZOLGI when able, maintain 3000.
Prepared Student: Heading 260, direct ZOLGI when able, 3000, 123.
This student would then spin the heading bug to 260, set 3000, take a deep breath, manage their flight path, and then load the approach from their secondary flight plan and proceed direct. After 30 seconds, they’d pile on with “123 direct ZOLGI.” Let’s dive in and see what that student did differently and how we can do it ourselves.
How to do it
First of all, scope out all the approaches you’re planning to fly. If you’re circling, sketch that out as well. If it’s a stage check or checkride and you’re not sure what to expect, you can either a) brute force all the approaches in the area, or b) take 10-15 minutes on the ground during your briefing before you launch.
Next, set up your secondary flight plans in the G1000 before departure:
Next, set up your secondary flight plans in the G1000 before departure:
Go FPL>Flight Plan Catalog to configure.
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Hit MENU>Load Approach to get your next approach ready.
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- Scroll the big knob by the MFD to FPL, then twist the little knob to select Flight Plan Catalog.
- Click the cursor to select a plan on the list, then use the UI to add the next destination (e.g. KPWT).
- Use the MENU key and scroll to “load approach” to add whichever approach you want. (Note: the PROC key will always load an approach to the flight plan at your current destination.)
- Check the points against your charts to make sure it’s loaded correctly.
- Repeat #2-4 for all the approaches you’re planning.
Other uses
The G1000 secondary flight plan menu works great for training and evaluation flights where lots of things need to happen quickly, but it’s also good for a real IFR flight and your destination requires an alternate: create a secondary flight plan from the missed approach to your alternate with the planned approach. Now you’re a few clicks away from going there.
Conclusions
Instrument flying should be straightforward. Using stored flight plans in the G1000 can reduce workload in the air, allowing you more time to focus on flying the airplane. When you move into bigger airplanes at bigger airports, you can use the same concept to simplify runway changes and other common curveballs.
Advice for instructors: I recommend doing a sim session with your students where you deliberately overload their box programming skills and allow them to mess up. Take detailed notes on what they missed and use it to focus the discussion on how important it is to keep workloads below a certain threshold in single-pilot IFR. Teach them the importance of recognizing saturation and how to raise their hands to ask for vectors, another lap in the hold, or whatever else they need. That will make much stronger IFR pilots.
Advice for instructors: I recommend doing a sim session with your students where you deliberately overload their box programming skills and allow them to mess up. Take detailed notes on what they missed and use it to focus the discussion on how important it is to keep workloads below a certain threshold in single-pilot IFR. Teach them the importance of recognizing saturation and how to raise their hands to ask for vectors, another lap in the hold, or whatever else they need. That will make much stronger IFR pilots.