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New aircraft, new piloting skills?
Landsberg talks technically advanced aircraft with pilots
Glass cockpit aircraft have wings and wheels just like the traditional aircraft that so many pilots have trained in for decades, but they are different. And according to AOPA Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg, pilots are still learning the intricacies of flying these aircraft.

"There is a learning curve when you're transitioning from older aircraft to newer ones," Landsberg told a group of about 40 pilots during his hangar talk on AOPA Day.

Traditional skills like aeronautical decision making, situation awareness, and stick-and-rudder skills are still needed when flying these aircraft. But the advanced panels, which include moving maps, weather radar, and traffic information, also require training for the pilot to use them efficiently.

"The tools are there [in the cockpit], but we've got to learn how to use them," he explained. "These tools can help keep us out of trouble if we have good aeronautical decision making."

But the key, Landsberg pointed out, is not to become a passenger of the newer aircraft: "Pilots can't just sit back."