# Presentation: 049371

## Transition to Glass

- One Pilot’s Personal Experience
- and
- The Insurance Industry
- Perspective

## Introduction

- Who I am
- EVP and CUO of Avemco Insurance Company
- Member of the FOC
- Flight Training Experience
- Flight School Owner
- Chief Flight Instructor
- Director of Operations

## My Transition to Glass

- Thousands of hours of instrument flight and training, but dated
- Attended Cirrus SR-22 Initial Flight Training in September of 2003 in Duluth (it snowed!)
- Purpose was to evaluate the aircraft, the avionics, and the training
- Accompanied by my VP of Underwriting

## My Transition to Glass (Cont.)

- No pre-flight training on avionics
- Totally overwhelmed by “knobology”
- After about 20 minutes, I transitioned to total visual reference – much better
- In about 1.5 hours of flying I was comfortable with aircraft handling

## My Transition to Glass (Cont.)

- Over next three hours or so, I became comfortable with PFD and MFD, so long as CFI performed knobology
- Left three days later very comfortable and knowledgeable of flight characteristics and aircraft systems other than avionics
- I had no clue how to set up MFD

## My Transition to Glass (Cont.)

- Had I owned the aircraft, I’m not sure I would have flown it home due to unfamiliarity with avionics
- Certainly VFR only

## My Transition to Glass (Cont.)

- Diamond DA-40 Transition Course October, 2004
- Substantial computer based pre-school avionics prep
- Two days of G-1000 Training, using scenarios to be used in actual flight training
- Cirrus and Cessna have simultaneously upgraded their courses at the same time

## Other Observations

- UND CFI’s were knowledgeable and effective instructors
- They confessed that their largest challenge “by far” was ignorance of avionics by new owners. Many owners took UND CFI’s (or their own CFI’s) home with them

## Other Observations (Cont.)

- Pilots my age (but less experience) were the most common demographic and greatest training challenge
- CFI’s believed that another significant challenge was get the “hard chargers” to take the time to do their training right

## Other Observations (Cont.)

- Goal-oriented successful entrepreneurs were the people who were buying these aircraft
- Scenario based training was critical to a successful transition

## The Guidelines We Implemented

- Required FITS Accepted Transition Training for all pilots transitioning to aircraft with PFD and MFD
- Became part of FITS Oversight Committee to accomplish two goals:
- Make sure training had “teeth” in it, and
- Provide “clout” to encourage quality training without heavy hand of FAA regulation being forced upon consumer.

## Results of Our Actions

- Our underwriting results with glass transition training have been better than acceptable
- Hard chargers “underwrite themselves”
- We were attacked in some quarters for engaging in a form of “de facto” regulation of pilots
- Free market regulates

## Why FITS?

- My “sales pitch”
- Scenario based
- My experience as a flight instructor causes me to strongly endorse this concept
- “Real world” training for “real world” pilots
- Not as effective IMHO for ab initio training

## Why FITS? (Cont.)

- Flexible
- No constrained by bureaucracy of FAA rule-making process
- The leaders in flight training, regulation, and product delivery voluntarily working together for common good
- Can adapt to dramatically changing avionics scene
- No way the FAA could do that

## Current Situation

- OEM’s all appear to have developed very effective FITS training courses
- Much more needs to be done for “in the field” training

## Insurance Industry Response

- FITS Accepted Training required by some insurers. No absolute standard
- Avemco requires it
- Provide a 5% Safety Rewards credit for it
- We continue to support the FITS initiative as the most realistic and effective response to the rapidly changing training requirements brought about by TAA

## Questions?