Check out http://www.danfarnsworth.com/ on why you should look at getting some "ROUND DIAL" action in the early stages of your career.

Very good article Dan. I was first immersed into the glass environment a couple of years ago when my boss bought a factory-new 2008 Piper Meridian with it's Avidyne Entegra package. During my five day initial, I found myself relying heavily upon the standby round gauges to the left of the big screen array while performing precision maneuvers. The whole "tape" displays just didn't register intuitively after decades of mental attachment to the round variety. It also didn't help that now my scan was all messed up. I knew then that I would be forced to adjust. And fast.

Quite a few planes ago, I learned an instructive lesson in that I must master the plane itself before venturing out on missions which required my attention outside of the flight deck (hard IMC, etc.). Nothing like flying an approach in busy airspace when you have to exert even the slightest thought on "OK, how do I read or do this?".

It was quite an adjustment, yet once it started to become a part of my mental pathways (as limited as they are), I fell in love.

Your article, however, more addressed the "backward compatibility" aspect. I never even thought about the tightness of the scan issue. Great point. It may be one thing entirely if there no longer existed any opportunity to revert back to older airplanes, but that's not the world we fly in. Round gauges will be with us for many years to come. The mastering of them will provide the fundamentals in mastering the new stuff. The same can even be said in this GPS era. The ability to fly airways via VORs has almost become a lost art in the GA community. GPS failures DO happen on occasion. Trust me.

By the way, by the time you moved on from VPJ, had they yet acquired N431R? We sold that old King Air to VPJ in the late nineties. Don't remember the year, but I think it was in 1998. I flew her for ten years. Anemic as the straight 100 was with the short wing and those dash 28s, she could certainly carry a load. I usually filed 230 between fifteen and sixteen thousand. That was her sweet spot. Took her up to FL230 one time due to weather, but she struggled a bit....

Good memories..

Very informative article and fun to read. Thanks for sharing it.