After spending three days visiting about every Best Buy store in Kansas City, I was able to finally find a copy of Microsoft’s latest release of Flight Simulator X (FSX).  Only Microsoft's deluxe version has the G1000 in three aircraft: Cessna 172, Mooney Ovation, and Beechcraft Baron.  I wanted to see how well Microsoft reproduced the look and feel of the G1000 in these three aircraft.  So far, I have about 10 hours of flying in the FSX and I can tell they did an excellent job.  However, some differences may get pilots already familiar with the G1000 into trouble.  G1000 pilots need to remember this game is made for the masses and not necessarily with the pilot in mind. Here are three of the differences I’ve found so far.

First, the G1000 is the same in each aircraft; however, in real life all three aircraft are setup differently.  One example is the autopilot. In FSX, all three aircraft have the same autopilot, but in real-life, these three aircraft have different autopilots.

The second difference is how pilots create a flight plan.  On FSX, there is not a Flight Plan button.  Instead, FSX gives you flight planning software that loads the flight plan onto the G1000 duplicating the FPL button.

Finally, the multi-function display (MFD) does not have the same features as the real G1000 (and if it does, I haven’t figured it out).

FSX is an excellent simulator for playing around with and getting to do things you normally can't do in an airplane. We know you’ll enjoy many hours of flying the FSX. Just remember when you turn off the computer and go to the hangar to fly your real G1000 equipped aircraft, the G1000 in FSX is not an exact copy to the real G1000. 

Comments

[Roger]

Good catch. What I meant to say was that the Flight Plan button does not operate like the real one does. The FSX does have a Flight Plan button on the PFD and the MFD. You can not create a flight plan by pressing the Flight Plan but instead you would need to go through the Create a Flight option.

[Ludwig]

hello,
you were not playing very carefully with
the G1000 airplanes
1. it is not true that the G1000 has no
flightplan button; it really has one
on both the PFD and the MFD.
If you get started with the general
flightplanning feature of fsx you can
see all waypoints when pressing the
FPL-button of G1000; when approaching
the IAF of the destination airport you
press the PROC-button to select the
approach etc. just like the G1000 will
do in reality.
2. there is only one AP,that's true, but
this doesn't matter; when properly
configured this AP will fly the GPS
track and the approach like in reality
,it even will capture the GP and
follow it down.
3. There are some shortcomings, sure,i.e
the lack of the ILS frequencies etc.
which I get from the official Garmin
GNS 500 trainer simultaneously running
in the background.

Anyway, this new simulator helps me getting more familiar with this complex new device, which otherwise would cost me many expensive hours of flying in the real world. thanks to Microsoft !!!
Ludwig