It’s just a matter of a couple of decades before that’s how people will be learning to drive as well. You won’t learn traffic rules, how to handle a car, how to navigate, etc. You’ll get in, tell it where you want to go, and take a snooze or surf Facebook (or MSFS forums lol) until you get to your destination.
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I enjoy the challenge of calculating my own spacial awareness, ETA’S, fuel remaining, ground speed, way points… Using the Garmin takes the fun of of it and leaves you doing nothing but staring at it. After the Garmin is set up, you take off, press a button, press that button again, and then land. Not as fun.
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And that’s commercial aviation in a nutshell. lol
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100% agreed. Both high and fast, and also low and slow. Would love to fly it IRL! I have been watching YT videos with the TBM for the last few months, I am tempted to go back to school for the type!
True but learning it the hard way is valuable later on during people their career. When I was an instructor we found it so dangerous that you could do your multi-engine rating on a Diamond Twinstar as you hardly have to do anything on that aircraft with an engine failure. I’m quite happy doing my rating on a flying turd which was really hard to handle, it has definitely be useful later on in my career. Same with all the screens in a cockpit nowadays, learn it that way and there is not much skills and knowledge to revert to if needed. Being able to built the mental picture yourself instead seeing it on a screen is what basic IFR training is all about.
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I don’t disagree. I’d rather learn to fly and navigate on gauges. There’s a lot of value in learning how and why things work the way they do. There’s no substitute for that other than learning it on the most rudimentary equipment. But that said, if money wasn’t an option and I could buy any plane I wanted, I’d be picking up something like a Cirrus SR22T with full Garmin package and all bells and whistles or something comparable.
Just like I’d rather learn to drive a car myself. And being almost 50 years old, I obviously have. But once again, if money were no object, a Tesla with full self-driving (once it’s actually ready, not as it is today) would likely be one of my top choices.
The tech train keeps steaming right along whether we choose to get on board or not.
EDIT: I prefer not be like my parents who got off the tech train back in the 40s and never got back on. To them, a VCR was a technological puzzle they couldn’t wrap their heads around. That’s why they had a strip of black electrical tape over the flashing 12:00 because they couldn’t figure out how to set the clock.
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The famous last words on the CVR: “what is it doing now?” 
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The Mooney is my favorite plane in the sim, followed by the C172 steam gauge.
But I do really enjoy using the glass also. Usually in the Bonanza and TBM, sometimes the SR22.
Unfortunately, the latest versions of both WT G1000 and G3000 mods are both pretty buggy for me atm, so I’ve had to uninstall them for now, and use the stock versions for the time being.
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I like flying with the Steam gauges, and the GNS530 (MOD), because now, it all works correctly. The g1000 is still a miss-programmed mess.
Also, on a smaller monitor, the steam gauges are more relaxing to look at, and less information overload.
As others have noted, when you 1st learn on the Steam gauges, you get a far better understanding of how VORS, ILS and NDB work.
I have watched other in MSFS, jump straight into using a plane with a G1000, not having a clue what they are doing, and its going to take them a long time to learn even the basics, when 90% of their task is “programming” the GPS.
Then they “hope” that it will “magically” fly the plane in the way they expect, and when it does not, they do not have a clue what is going wrong.
That’s not to say in RL, I would prefer a plane with only steam gauges … I’m not Stupid – I’ll take whatever tools I can have to ensure a safe flight – but back in the Sim, it’s fun to push oneself, and remember the “Good Old days”, before GPS.
(The good old LORAN and NDB (in plane entertainment) days !!)
It’s the Asobo code that they ride upon that’s the core issue, not the WT mods themselves. A house is only as good as the foundation it’s built upon.
But as I said above, in the next couple of weeks, expect updated versions of the G1000/3000 mods that have been rewritten from the ground up eliminating Asobo’s garbage code. They’ll function much closer to the real world counterparts and won’t have the Asobo bugs.
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I like the G1000. It takes some getting used too with so much information on a screen, its not quite as intuitive in my opinion as the old gauges but its a digital world and times move on.
The GNS530 is a good compromise to me. That’s why I love the Mooney and C172SP so much. It has that old school feel, but with just enough tech onboard to make it feel more modern.
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Right – I’ll take a Realistic, working GNS530, over a buggy MSFS G1000 any day…
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I find steam gauges much easier to use: I can tell my airspeed and altitude at a glance, without having to peer and squint and zoom to read the numbers. A needle in a dial is far more intuitive imho.
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Learned to navigate VORs in a steam gauge equipped aircraft back in the 90’s. Absolutely hated the C172 in Standard was G1000 equipped, while the historically default model was only available in the Deluxe edition. Seriously M$, what were you thinking?
Knowing that VOR stations are shutting down and will soon become a thing of the past, I realized it was time to evolve and grow a little instead of being yet another grumpy old-fart armchair pilot, stuck in his ways and unwilling to change. Thanks to P Gatcomb’s YouTube channel and his tutorial of the G1000, the transition was easier than expected.
So, to me, it really isn’t an issue if the G1000 is growing on me or not. But rather, it’s a matter of, evolve with your hobby or be left behind.
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I currently prefer steam gauges simply because I’m able to see my airspeed and altitude while being able to look everywhere else, my setup doesn’t allow me to do the same with the Garmin yet, I like both options though
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I’ll always prefer steam gauges on the sim. A Garmin 430 or 530 on the side if I want it.
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I really like both to be honest. Irl flying I like how the glass cockpits provides improved situational awareness of airspace as well as improved efficiency of ad-hoc flight planning / navigation and vfr and ifr approach procedures. I do love steam guages as well both in sims and irl and I will commonly hire aircraft alternately to ensure that I have good exposure to both systems.
One major downside for me is that I have found that the GPS systems result in less time looking out the cockpit, simply because of the amount of information displayed and functionality available. There have been numerous articles written on this topic too. So when flying it requires more self discipline to make sure that you are looking out rather than in the cockpit. I think with more touch screen systems entering the market that improved efficiency of use of glass cockpits will somewhat reduce this problem.
Happy new year to you all.
Learned on steam, prefer Glass. It’s all I fly IRL now. The amount of information and aid to situational awareness can’t be matched with steam.
In real world VFR flying I prefer the compromise between the two worlds: the G3X Touch 10" allows switching from “tapes” to “round” gauges. While tapes are probably convenient for experienced IFR pilots who must control the flight parameters (altitude, airspeed) precisely, I strongly prefer for my casual VFR flying the round gauges, which provide all the info just by glancing at them.
So it’s not the question of glass vs. steam. Steam will die: more expensive, not reliable, limited functions. It’s the question how ergonomic for particular type of flying is the content presented on the glass screen.