LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Re: Glass cockpits haven’t boosted GA safety: The FAA is right on. So-called glass cockpit pilots need more training, but more than that, other issues remain which the article did not mention.
First, they present an enormous amount of pilot distraction. Look at a typical layout with its scores of buttons and windows. Who is looking out the window and flying the plane while all this button pushing is going on? Old style gauges require only a quick scan of the panel, while a radio call to FSS can update weather information without having to stop what you are doing while you peer at a WX map on the panel.
As to costs, don’t kid me. They may be affordable to Harrison Ford, but not to the average owner of a 30- or 40-year-old plane, thousands of which are still flying.
And while I’m at it, let me ask, “what kind of dumb name is glass cockpit? There’s no glass and it’s not a cockpit. It’s an EFIS or EID: Electronic Flight Instrument System or Electronic Instrument Display. It’s like calling an instrument panel a dashboard.
LOU WAGNER, Bethune, S.C.
