WARNING: For safety reasons, G1000 operational procedures must be learned on the ground.

It matters not whether there are 1 or a hundred crewmembers, nor does it matter what equipment is serviceable; If you haven’t learned the procedures, you have no business operating the equipment in the air.

Let’s stop pretending that a cockpit is an appropriate classroom setting.

Frequently it seems to be case of placing ticks in boxes rather than having a good understanding of a particular course module before moving on to the next course module. This building block approach to acquiring new skills and knowledge is not rocket science. This all points to ensuring you pick an instructor with good track record with his/her students.

“Unfortunately, automation has neither removed human error nor simplified the pilot’s job. Instead, engineers have used the power of the computer revolution to cram more functions into smaller boxes, more information onto displays, and more options into flight management systems than the average pilot has any hope of mastering.”

Pros & cons to everything, it seems…

Your thoughts above should not be unique to this aircraft/avionics situation or a “newbie”. If you can’t do all of the above by yourself in those conditions, you shouldn’t be doing hard/night IFR by yourself…too few people really self-assess accurately. Throw in fatigue and the fact that some part of the airplane (auto-pilot, “wonder boxes” or just your own buffoonery…and I admit to that myself!) craps out at the worst possible moment and you may not survive the experience. If you do elect to rely on a co-pilot, do yourself a favor and make sure they are a capable and well briefed asset, not just another distraction.