G1000 PFD — Primary Flight Display
Build log for the Garmin G1000 PFD replica: bezel fabrication, touchscreen mounting, and X-Plane integration.
Overview
The Primary Flight Display (PFD) is the left-hand screen of the G1000 suite. It shows attitude, airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, HSI, and COM/NAV tuning. In the real aircraft it is a Garmin GDU 1040 running Garmin's proprietary avionics software.
In this build the PFD is replicated using a 10.1" touchscreen monitor running X-Plane 12's native G1000 implementation, mounted behind a 3D-printed bezel that matches the real panel proportions.
Bezel Design
The PFD bezel is printed in PLA and replicates the softkey button row along the bottom edge. Each softkey is a 6×6mm tactile switch wired to an ESP32, allowing physical button presses to interact with the G1000 software via CockpitConnect.
Softkey Row
The 12 softkeys along the bottom of the PFD bezel are mapped to X-Plane commands:
| Key | Default Function |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | NAV/MAP/PROC softkeys |
| 4–6 | FPL / DIRECT / CLR |
| 7–9 | MENU / ENT / cursor keys |
| 10–12 | Range / joystick emulation |
Knobs
The PFD has two concentric rotary knobs on the right side (COM/NAV tuning) and a FMS cursor joystick. These are 3D-printed housings with rotary encoders inside.
Status
Bezel design in progress. Monitor selected (Elecrow 10.1" IPS capacitive touch).