How to enter a flight plan and go direct-to on the G1000

The FMS knob and data entry

The FMS knob sits at the bottom right of each display and has two rings. Nearly every entry uses the same few movements:

• Push the knob to turn the flashing cursor on or off.
• Turn the large (outer) ring to move the cursor or scroll a list.
• Turn the small (inner) ring to change the character or option.
• Press ENT to accept, CLR to erase or cancel, and MENU for the options on the current page.

To spell an identifier, use the small ring for the letter and the large ring to move to the next position. The database scrolls through matching waypoints as you go, so a few letters are often enough. If an identifier belongs to more than one waypoint, ENT opens a Duplicate Waypoints window. Use the region, bearing and distance to pick the right one. Our G1000 basics guide covers the rest of the controls.

Going direct-to

Direct-to draws a course from where you are to one waypoint. The sequence is the same on either display:

1. Press the Direct-to key. The window opens with the identifier field highlighted. It may already hold a waypoint from the active plan.
2. Turn the small FMS knob clockwise and spell the identifier.
3. Press ENT. The cursor moves to ACTIVATE?. Check the name, bearing, distance and course.
4. Press ENT again to activate.

A magenta line now runs from the aircraft to the waypoint. Guidance continues until you replace it with another direct-to or a flight plan, or cancel it. The HSI only follows this course when GPS is its source, which the CDI softkey selects. See how to read the G1000 PFD.

Try it: “Go direct to a waypoint”: spell GUR for the Guernsey VOR, activate it, then re-select direct from the PFD

Quicker ways to choose the waypoint

Each of these finishes with ENT twice.

• From a list. In the window, turn the small knob anticlockwise. It changes between the FPL, NRST, RECENT and USER tabs, and the large knob moves down the list.
• From a page. Highlight a waypoint in the flight plan or show it on a waypoint page, then press Direct-to.
• Nearest airport. Press the NRST softkey on the PFD. The nearest airport is already selected, so press Direct-to.
• From the map. Press the joystick on a navigation map page, move the pointer and press Direct-to. With nothing at that point, you get a temporary waypoint called MAPWPT.

Refreshing and cancelling

For a fresh course after drifting off the line, press Direct-to, then ENT twice. To cancel, press Direct-to, then MENU, and press ENT on Cancel Direct-To NAV. If a flight plan is still active, navigation resumes along the closest leg.

Creating, storing and activating a plan

Only one plan is active at a time, and that is the one the GPS navigates. It is erased at power-off, so store anything you want to keep.

Creating the active plan

1. Press FPL on the MFD. The Active Flight Plan page opens.
2. Push the FMS knob to turn the cursor on.
3. Turn the small knob clockwise. A blank Waypoint Information window opens.
4. Spell the first waypoint and press ENT.
5. Repeat the last two steps for each waypoint.
6. Push the FMS knob to turn the cursor off.

Try it: “Create a flight plan”: enter Jersey, the Guernsey VOR and ORTAC on the MFD

Storing a plan

On the Active Flight Plan page, press MENU, highlight Store Flight Plan and press ENT. With OK highlighted, press ENT again. The plan goes into the next free place in the catalogue. To see it, press FPL and turn the small knob clockwise to the Flight Plan Catalog page. The NEW softkey there starts a blank stored plan.

Try it: “Store a plan and use the catalogue”: store the active plan, read it in the catalogue, then start a new one

Activating a stored plan

On the Flight Plan Catalog page, push the FMS knob and highlight the plan. Press the ACTIVE softkey and, with OK highlighted, press ENT. For the trip home, the INVERT softkey activates the plan backwards and leaves the stored copy alone.

Try it: “Activate and invert a stored plan”: activate it from the catalogue, then fly it backwards

Editing en route

Each change to the active plan affects navigation as soon as you enter it, so check the identifier before you press ENT. Press FPL and push the FMS knob first, then:

• Insert a waypoint. Use the large knob to highlight the waypoint the new one goes in front of. Turn the small knob, spell the new waypoint and press ENT.
• Remove a waypoint. Highlight it and press CLR. With OK highlighted on the prompt, press ENT. Some approach waypoints, such as the final approach fix, cannot be removed one at a time.
• Skip to a later leg. Highlight the waypoint at the end of that leg, press the ACT LEG softkey on the MFD and confirm with ENT.

Approaches, departures and arrivals go in through the PROC key, as flying an ILS on the G1000 shows. To have the autopilot follow the plan, see the autopilot modes guide.

Try it: “Insert and remove waypoints”: put the Alderney beacon in front of ORTAC, then take it out with CLR

Trip planning

The Trip Planning page gives time, distance and fuel figures for a plan, one leg or any two waypoints. Turn the large FMS knob to the AUX group and the small knob to the page. Plan 00 is the active plan, and 01 to 99 are stored plans.

• AUTO takes its inputs from the sensors and works from your present position. MANUAL lets you type them in to plan ahead.
• FPL uses a flight plan and WPTS uses two waypoints you choose.

Fuel required is time to go multiplied by fuel flow, so the figures move with the wind and the power setting. Use them to cross-check your own fuel plan.

Try it: “Trip planning”: read the figures for the rest of the plan and for one leg, then try the waypoint and manual modes

To put these sequences together, try the drill in the free glass cockpit trainer for the G1000. Starting west of Jersey, you activate a stored plan via Guernsey and then take a clearance direct to Jersey.

Try it: “Load a plan and go direct”