AUTOMATIC FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

7.2 FLIGHT DIRECTOR OPERATION

The flight director function provides pitch and roll commands to the AFCS and displays them on the PFD. With the flight director activated, the aircraft can be hand-flown to follow the path shown by the Command Bars. Maximum commanded pitch (+20°/-15°) and bank (22°) angles, vertical acceleration, and roll rate are limited to values established during AFCS certification. The flight director also provides commands to the autopilot.

COMMAND BARS

Upon activation of the flight director, Command Bars are displayed on the PFD as a single magenta cue. The Command Bars move together vertically to indicate pitch commands and bank left or right to indicate roll commands. The Command Bars do not override the aircraft symbol.

If the attitude information sent to the flight director becomes invalid or unavailable, the Command Bars are removed from the display. The flight director Command Bars also disappear if the pitch exceeds +30˚/-20˚ or bank exceeds 65˚.

Figure 7-2 Command Bars

7-4

Garmin G1000 Pilot’s Guide for Cessna Nav III

190-00498-02 Rev.A

AUTOMATIC FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

ACTIVATING THE FLIGHT DIRECTOR

Pressing the FD or AP Key (when the flight director is not active) activates the flight director in default pitch/ roll modes. Pushing the GA Switch or any fight director mode key activates the flight director in the respective mode(s). The flight director may be turned off by pressing the FD Key. The FD Key is disabled when the autopilot is engaged.

Flight director mode annunciations are displayed on the PFD when the flight director is active. Flight director roll modes are shown on the left and pitch on the right. Armed modes are annunciated in white and active in green. Autopilot status is displayed in the center of the AFCS Status Box.

	Autopilot
Lateral Modes	Status	Vertical Modes

Armed

Active

Active

Mode

Armed

Reference

AFCS Status Box

Selected Altitude

Command Bars

Selected Heading				Selected Course

GPS is Selected

Navigation Source

Figure 7-3 PFD AFCS Display

190-00498-02 Rev.A

Garmin G1000 Pilot’s Guide for Cessna Nav III

7-5