Garmin Updates TXi Flight Displays, GTN™ Navigators, GFC™ Autopilots and G5 Electronic Flight Instrument

Garmin is pleased to announce significant new capabilities, configuration options and greater integration coming throughout GTN 650/750 series touchscreen navigators, G500/G600 and TXi series flight displays as well as the GFC 500/GFC 600 autopilots. Additionally, the G5 electronic flight instrument for certificated aircraft is being approved for use as a standby instrument when paired with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays. The GFC 500 autopilot will also be approved for installation with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays, while the addition of descent vertical navigation (VNAV) within GTN navigators will aid in descent planning. With Garmin, pilots receive a seamlessly integrated cockpit that offers a more harmonious transition among avionics, which reduces pilot workload and provides a superior in-flight experience.

GTN Series – Descent Vertical Navigation

To assist in descent planning and energy management, pilots can take advantage of VNAV profiles throughout the en route and terminal phases of flight within GTN 650/750 series touchscreen navigators when they’re paired with G500 TXi/G600 TXi, G500/G600 or G5. Within GTN, pilots can easily enter altitude constraints on the flight plan page to setup a vertical descent profile. Pilots also experience a near-seamless transition from VNAV to an arrival and instrument approach. Once an arrival or approach is loaded and activated, GTN automatically populates step-down altitudes or any applicable altitude restrictions. If ATC issues an unpublished altitude restriction, pilots can enter those altitudes manually into the active flight plan under the VNAV field.

As part of the VNAV profile, top of descent (TOD) and bottom of descent (BOD) values are also calculated and displayed on the moving map. As the aircraft arrives at TOD, GTN displays a visual annunciation, prompting the pilot to begin the descent. When paired with a flight display such as G500 TXi/G600 TXi, G500/G600 or G5, a vertical deviation indication (VDI) also populates on the display to provide vertical guidance for the descent. Additionally, when the GTN 650/750 series is paired with the GFC 600 or GFC 500 autopilot, pilots can select the VNAV button on the mode controller to fly a fully-coupled VNAV profile.

Now Approved with G500 or G500 TXi: G5 and GFC 500

The ever-popular G5 electronic flight instrument will soon be approved as a standby flight instrument when paired with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays. Additionally, this will allow Aircraft owners to pair the economical GFC 500 autopilot with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays, while offering a redundant, all-glass cockpit. In doing so, adjustments made to heading bugs, altitude select, airspeed bugs, as well as the barometric pressure setting are automatically synced from G500 TXi or G500 flight displays to G51. Flight director and autopilot mode annunciations from GFC 500 can also be viewed across all flight displays, including G5.

In the unlikely event of a G500 TXi flight display failure, G5 will remain coupled to the GFC 500 autopilot and continue to fly normal autopilot modes, including altitude select, heading, vertical speed and more. G5 as a standby flight instrument will be available for Class 1 aircraft listed on both the G5 AML STC and the G500 TXi AML STC. To incorporate GFC 500, the aircraft must also be listed on GFC 500 AML STC. Note that G5 and the GAD™ 29B adapter are required to connect GFC 500 to a G500 or G500 TXi flight display.

Course Deviation Indication (CDI) and VDI Preview

A popular feature in turbine class aircraft, a CDI preview option allows pilots to view course and vertical deviation information prior to an instrument approach. When the GTN series is paired with G500 TXi/G600 TXi or G500/G600, pilots can view this feature within the HSI or lateral deviation indicator on the flight display. When GPS is the selected CDI source, information — such as a course pointer, lateral deviation, station ID and the numeric inbound course — automatically populates on the HSI in gray when an instrument approach is loaded. For ILS and GPS approaches with vertical guidance, a preview of the VDI also populates on the TXi series, G500/G600 or G5, allowing pilots to view glideslope or glidepath deviation prior to the descent.

Garmin Pilot™ App and Engine Information System (EIS) Analytics

Exclusive to Garmin, customers can now utilize Garmin Pilot on Apple® mobile devices to view real-time engine information via Flight Stream 510 when the app is paired with an EIS-capable TXi flight display or the G1000® NXi integrated flight deck. Upon landing, the flight data log (including EIS data) is wirelessly uploaded to the flyGarmin® website and is stored securely within the app and on flyGarmin. Within the flyGarmin website, pilots can access detailed information related to any flight, play back the flight and download data logs. Pilot-configurable exceedances can also be set within the flyGarmin website.

New TXi Display Orientations, Configurations and Capabilities

The TXi family adds even more options with software version 2.20, including the following:

• The 10-inch TXi flight display can be configured to a 40% PFD and 60% MFD split-screen layout.
• On a 7-inch portrait or landscape G500 TXi/G600 TXi display, the displays can be configured to view MFD features2 and single-engine EIS information simultaneously.
• The 7-inch landscape TXi display can be used as a PFD, adding installation flexibility in aircraft panels that are space-limited.
• Multiple video inputs can be displayed on the MFD with purchase of a new video input feature enablement.
• Within the EIS-capable TXi displays, pilots can select and view individual cylinder head temperature (CHT) values.
• Flight Stream 510 may now be installed directly in a TXi display, allowing aircraft not equipped with a GTN navigator to take advantage of flight data (including EIS data) transfer to the Garmin Pilot™ app and database transfer to TXi. Note that flight plan transfer is not supported if Flight Stream 510 is installed directly in a TXi display.

GTN Series Enhancements

The GTN series touchscreen navigators will also receive many new features with software version 6.50, including:

• The addition of new audible and visual terrain proximity alerts, including, "terrain ahead, pull up", "obstacle ahead, pull up" and "wire ahead." An aural "five-hundred" annunciation is also available when the aircraft is on approach to land. These new alerts are available as a free feature.
• Pilots can now set a user-defined waypoint as an airport, so terrain alerts are minimized while landing at an airport that is not in the navigation database.
• The addition of a QWERTY keyboard within the GTN 650/750 series and G500 TXi/G600 TXi gives pilots a more familiar way to input information.
• Pilots can configure COMM sidetone settings within GTN.
• Irish, Swiss and English coordinate systems are now supported so it’s easier for pilots to enter GPS coordinates in various formats, including latitude/longitude, degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees.
• The new GWX™ 75 weather radar is now supported by the GTN touchscreen navigators and G500 TXi/G600 TXi flight displays, which offers four-times more color contouring than typically found on other weather radars on the market.
• Downloadable Feature Enablements are now supported by GTN touchscreen navigators. More information will be released in an upcoming marketing memo.