Cessna Citation Ascend continues to progress through certification program, will deliver with latest update of Garmin G5000 avionics suite

Textron Aviation announced the Cessna Citation Ascend continues to progress through its certification program and will be equipped with the latest enhancements to the Garmin G5000 avionics suite. This flight deck will provide pilots with significant technological advances when it enters into service, expected to be in 2025.

The Ascend program includes two test articles – Prototype (Proto) and P1 – which have accumulated nearly 600 flight hours through more than 200 flights.

"Citation business jets are renowned for their superior performance and productivity,” said Lannie O'Bannion, senior vice president of Global Sales & Flight Operations. “Including the Garmin G5000 in the Citation Ascend demonstrates our continued commitment to designing and delivering the best aviation experience for our customers. We can’t wait to see this aircraft deliver to customers.”

The Ascend is designed to bring a new cockpit, improved performance and a luxurious cabin to the midsize business jet market. The aircraft's state-of-the-art avionics, autothrottles, high payload capacity and impressive range offer customers reduced pilot workload and the ability to do more and go farther.

When equipped with the latest Garmin G5000 avionics suite, the Ascend will feature an array of new advanced features and technology from Garmin, including Synthetic Vision Guidance System (SVGS) shown on the primary flight displays, that couples with Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) to support approach minima as low as 150 ft (46 m). SVGS provides a continuous, geo-spatially correct depiction of the external scene topography, including obstacles, augmented by the display of the runway.

Expanded SVT Capabilities for Improved Taxiway Routing

Garmin receives Operational Excellence Award from Airbus Helicopters

Garmin has announced it recently received the 2022 Operational Excellence Award from Airbus Helicopters at their annual Supplier Conference in Marignane, France. In addition to recognizing excellence in on-time delivery and quality, the award highlights Garmin's outstanding performance amid a period of global supply chain challenges.

"It is an honour to be recognized by Airbus Helicopters for our commitment to serve them and our mutual customers. This prestigious award represents the strong collaboration between Airbus Helicopters and Garmin and is a testament to the hard work and dedication provided by the entire Garmin team. We are truly grateful to receive this award recognizing the entire organization's commitment to on-time delivery, quality, and customer support." – Carl Wolf, Garmin Vice President of Aviation Sales and Marketing

Archer signs deal with Garmin to supply key avionic systems for Archer’s production aircraft - Midnight

      

Archer Aviation Inc and Garmin a leading provider of aviation technologies and solutions have entered into an agreement for Garmin to supply the G3000® integrated flight deck for Midnight.

This relationship represents yet another foundational supplier for Archer.

Sourcing avionic systems from Garmin further advances Archer’s strategy of establishing strategic relationships for the supply of components that are already being used on certified aircraft today, reducing Archer’s certification risk, as well as its development timelines and costs.

The Garmin G3000 integrated flight deck offers an ideal solution for the Midnight cockpit. The compact and lightweight system offers both an extensive certification pedigree and the configurability needed for Archer to bring its aircraft to market. The large format displays and intuitive controls will provide pilots with the situational awareness needed to operate Midnight. The extensive reach of Garmin avionics will make the Midnight aircraft familiar to a large swath of pilots.

Part of Archer’s commercialization strategy is to focus its in-house development on only the key enabling technologies that cannot be sourced from the existing aerospace supply base. The Garmin relationship further advances Archer’s approach of establishing strategic relationships for supply of components already being used on certified aircraft today. Archer now has more than 64% of our suppliers for Midnight’s bill-of-materials selected.

Garmin GI 275 receives STC for Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 7X

(Photo: Business Wire)

Garmin International has announced Supplemental Type Certification (STC) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the GI 275 electronic flight instrument in the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet. As a replacement for the original secondary flight display (SFD), the primary GI 275 will integrate with the aircraft’s existing systems to be configured as an attitude-direction indicator (ADI) with synthetic vision technology (SVT™). Adding a second GI 275 to the copilot’s side will reduce the flight crew’s workload by providing multifunction display (MFD) capabilities.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Dassault Aviation and bring the GI 275 to the Falcon cockpit,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “The popular GI 275 redefines the capabilities of a standby flight display, and we’re excited that almost 300 aircraft in the Falcon line globally will now have the opportunity to be retrofitted with this integrated and intuitive solution.”

Standby flight display

Configured as an ADI, the primary GI 275 will display the Falcon’s flight path, in addition to attitude, heading, altitude, airspeed and vertical speed. Localizer, ILS and VOR approach cues will also be displayed. SVT overlays a rich, 3D topographic view of terrain, traffic, obstacles, airport signposts and more. The GI 275 flight instruments will integrate with the existing flight control, inertial navigation, air data and flight management systems offering more redundancy and options than the previous SFD. Backup GPS information can still be displayed on the MFD moving map in the event of a sensor failure.

Adding a second display

When configured as an MFD, the copilot’s GI 275 will serve multiple roles. Available pages include a dedicated course deviation indicator (CDI), horizontal situation indicator (HSI) and HSI with a moving map. Within the MFD configuration, the moving map can display terrain, obstacles, traffic, airspace information, airways and more. SafeTaxi® airport diagrams display runways, taxiways, fixed based operators (FBOs) and more relative to the aircraft’s location on the airport surface. The GI 275 also allows the crew to select airports and other points of interest on the map to see airspaces with ceilings and floors, frequencies, and airport hot spots with ease.

Bluetooth functionality

Garmin G3000 selected by US Department of Defense contract to modernize fleet of F-5 aircraft

Garmin International, announced this week that a selection of the Garmin G3000® integrated flight deck by Tactical Air Support, Inc. (Tactical Air) as part of a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) F-5N+/F+ Avionics Reconfiguration and Tactical Enhancement/Modernization for Inventory Standardization (ARTEMIS) program. 

Tactical Air first selected the Garmin G3000 for their F-5 adversary aircraft training fleet in 2018. This recent award builds upon Tactical Air and Garmin’s strategic relationship now serving the DOD fleet of F-5 adversary aircraft. Garmin’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) G3000 open architecture supports integration with a wide range of mission equipment including military sensors, helmet-mounted displays, and advanced electrically scanned radar systems.

“It is an honour to team with Tactical Air and have our versatile G3000 integrated flight deck chosen for the ARTEMIS contract with the Department of Defense,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “Garmin is proud to see our integrated flight deck technologies, deployed now on over 25,000 aircraft, also being adopted by the U.S. military and enhancing the mission and safety capabilities of our nation’s warfighters.”

The F-5 is a supersonic, multi-role tactical fighter and attack aircraft that in this role will provide air-to-air combat training, close-air support training, tactical development and evaluation support. The upgraded F-5 Advanced Tiger (AT) will be used in an aggressor training role, and the G3000 will transform the cockpit with one large area display and two touchscreen controllers. These upgrades bring modern safety systems and new tactical capabilities to the older airframes while also solving parts obsolescence and reliability issues within the existing avionics system.

Garmin delivers 750th integrated flight deck upgrade for King Air aircraft

Garmin International, Inc,  celebrated the delivery of its 750th G1000/G1000 NXi integrated flight deck upgrade for King Air aircraft. Certified and introduced in 2007, the G1000 retrofit program modernized the King Air cockpit by providing operators with enhanced operational benefits and increased aircraft utility, while also offering significant weight savings and a lower cost of operation. Its successor, the G1000 NXi, carries on the lineage and success of the renowned G1000 integrated flight deck with an even faster, more modernized and lighter avionics suite.

U.S. Army to take delivery of the milestone G1000 NXi

From fleet workhorses to individual operators, G1000/G1000 NXi installations have been completed on a variety of King Air aircraft that has grown to include the King Air C90A/B, 200, B200, 300 and 350 series. The milestone G1000 NXi retrofit was installed by Stevens Aerospace and Defense in Greenville, S.C. in a King Air B200C operated by the U.S. Army, a long-time Garmin customer. This upgrade allows the U.S. Army to take advantage of the scalable G1000 NXi platform, including the new mission-specific capabilities recently certified for the King Air G1000 NXi upgrade.

“The global acceptance of the G1000/G1000 NXi King Air upgrade has made it the most successful integrated flight deck retrofit for this family of aircraft,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “We’d like to thank our talented and trusted worldwide dealer network, which has helped us achieve such a tremendous milestone, and extend our humbled appreciation to the U.S. Army for its trust in Garmin. We look forward to continuing to grow the success of the G1000 NXi integrated flight deck retrofit in the King Air cockpit to even more owners and operators around the world.”

The G1000 integrated flight deck revolutionized the King Air cockpit by incorporating key benefits like Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT™), Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) with the coupled go-around feature, geo-referenced approach charts, datalink weather and more. As a complete retrofit, this upgrade solved parts obsolescence among the King Air fleet with state-of-the-art zero-time avionics and provides an estimated weight savings of 250 pounds or more compared to the original system, allowing additional baggage, passenger and fuel load flexibility.

Building on the success of the G1000 retrofit program, the G1000 NXi offers modernized flight displays that support faster map rendering and smoother panning throughout the primary flight display (PFD) and multifunction display (MFD). Features like wireless cockpit connectivity, including wireless aviation database updates using Garmin Flight Stream 510, visual approach capability, enhanced situational awareness with SurfaceWatch™ and more, are all available with the G1000 NXi. Modernized situational awareness tools such as geographical map overlay within the HSI and visual approaches add to the G1000 NXi feature set. Additionally, King Air owners and operators with an existing G1000 integrated flight deck can upgrade to the G1000 NXi with minimal aircraft down time and disruption to the panel as the displays preserve the same footprint and wiring harness connections.

Garmin has made additional upgrades and investments to the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to support the U.S. Army aircraft, including the TA-24 third-party GPS and the APX-119 IFF transponder interface, as well as additional aircraft-specific system integrations.

For additional information on the G1000 NXi King Air upgrade, visit garmin.com/kingair
Want me in your inbox? Follow here for email updates Air101 here.

Garmin G3000 integrated flight deck selected by Heart Aerospace for the first all-electric ES-19 airliner

Garmin® International announced a long-term agreement with Heart Aerospace to provide the state-of-the-art Garmin G3000® integrated flight deck for the ES-19 electric airliner. Heart Aerospace is working to develop the new ES-19, a 19-seat electric airliner that has the potential to provide the regional air transport market with a more sustainable and environmentally friendly aircraft option as early as 2026. Additionally, United Airlines has conditionally agreed to purchase 100 ES-19 aircraft once the aircraft meets United’s safety, business and operating requirements.

“It’s an honour to have our G3000 integrated flight deck chosen for the ES-19 and to work alongside the Heart Aerospace and United Airlines teams in their commitment to long-term sustainability by reducing aviation’s carbon emissions,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation and marketing. “We’re confident in Heart’s practical, market-driven approach to expanding the regional air transport market with the introduction of the first all-electric airliner, whose lower operating costs have the potential to enable more universal access to air travel and a broader network of short-haul flights.”

“We’re thrilled to have Garmin provide their industry-leading G3000 integrated flight deck, customized and optimized for integration and operation, in our ES-19 all-electric airliner,” said Anders Forslund, CEO of Heart Aerospace. “Known for award-winning innovation and unmatched reliability and performance, Garmin was the perfect avionics choice for this transformational aircraft.”

Garmin achieves significant milestone in its G5000 retrofit program for Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS aircraft

Garmin International announced that 10% of the ever-popular Cessna Citation Excel and XLS business jet fleet has now been retrofitted with Garmin’s G5000® integrated flight deck upgrade. The G5000 integrated avionics suite modernizes the cockpit with additional capabilities, significantly reduces operational costs, increases situational awareness of the flight crew and solves long-term concerns related to legacy avionics parts obsolescence.

“We are thrilled that so many owners and operators have chosen to upgrade their Citation Excel/XLS with the G5000 since we announced program certification just two years ago,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “Offering an unprecedented level of situational awareness, the G5000 also yields a significantly lower cost of operation and delivers an exceptional in-flight experience making it an attractive upgrade in these popular aircraft. We look forward to growing the success of this program further so even more owners and operators can continue to experience the benefits of the G5000 integrated flight deck in the cockpit.”

A complete retrofit solution

The G5000 integrated flight deck for the Citation Excel and Citation XLS features three landscape-oriented flight displays with split-screen capability, allowing pilots to simultaneously view maps, charts, checklists, TAWS, TCAS, flight plan information, weather and more. Electronic charts and Garmin SafeTaxi® airport diagrams are geo-referenced and can be viewed across all three displays. Intuitive touchscreen controllers serve as the pilot interface to the flight deck and contribute to the ease of operation and seamless transition between various pages.

Garmin announces GFC 600H flight control system certification for Bell 505 helicopters

Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. announced that the GFC™ 600H flight control system has received Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval for installation on the Bell 505 helicopter, providing a cost-effective flight control solution that reduces pilot workload and improves mission effectiveness. The GFC 600H provides a number of helicopter-tailored safety features, including attitude hold with speed stability, the innovative hover assist mode, Garmin Helicopter Electronic Stability and Protection (H-ESP™), dedicated return-to-level (LVL) mode, as well as overspeed and low-speed protection, and more.

“The GFC 600H provides a highly capable and advanced flight control solution while aiding to reduce inflight workload to the many Bell 505 owners and operators,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “We are proud to build on Garmin’s proven flight control capabilities and safety-minded aviation technologies with the state-of-the-art GFC 600H and its fly-through technology to better assist pilots in conducting their important missions.”

“The Garmin autopilot provides a significant pilot workload reduction during every phase of flight, including hover,” said Yann Lavalee, Bell senior test pilot. “Not only does the autopilot fly the helicopter smoothly, it also includes advanced safety features like automatic altitude levelling airspeed and low G protection. The GFC 600H integration with the advanced G1000H and G1000H NXi avionics system offers ease of operation and precise navigation.”

Garmin G5000 integrated flight deck selected by Deutsche Aircraft for D328eco regional turboprop

Garmin International announced an agreement with Deutsche Aircraft to provide the state-of-the-art Garmin G5000® integrated flight deck for the innovative D328eco Companion flight deck. Deutsche Aircraft is working to develop the new D328eco, which is expected to provide the regional air transportation market a more sustainable and environmentally friendly aircraft option by 2025.

“Deutsche Aircraft is developing the D328eco to be a disruptive new entrant in the regional air transportation segment, and we are proud to work in close coordination with their team to help them bring new technologies to this market,” said Creighton Scarpone, Garmin director of airline and business aviation sales. “Garmin has an established history of supplying innovative, forward-looking avionics technologies to operators across the industry and we are honoured to have been selected to bring our G5000 integrated flight deck into the regional airline market on Deutsche Aircraft’s D328eco aircraft.”

“We are thrilled having Garmin join our D328eco programme and offer the first newly designed flight deck for a sub 70 seater regional aircraft in this century,” said Dave Jackson, Deutsche Aircraft managing director. “The new D328eco Companion flight deck, based on Garmin’s G5000 proven capabilities, will set the standards for the future of this segment.”

Garmin acquires AeroData, a leading provider of performance data solutions for commercial aircraft

Garmin International has announced the acquisition of AeroData, Inc., a privately held, industry-leading provider of aircraft performance software and services tailored to commercial and business aviation. AeroData’s portfolio includes products such as runway analysis, takeoff and en route performance, weight and balance, automated passenger and cargo load planning, global airport obstacle database, around-the-clock NOTAM monitoring, and other customized software solutions.

“We are excited to welcome the AeroData team to the Garmin family. We look forward to building upon AeroData’s incredible success in providing advanced software solutions for both air transport and business aviation,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director, aviation. “In addition to broadening Garmin’s presence in commercial aviation, AeroData’s extensive load planning, performance, and flight path analysis expertise significantly enhances and expands our digital services portfolio.”

Garmin announces retrofit ADS-B solution for ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft

Certification provides ATR operators an attractive option to meet the extended European ADS-B mandate

Garmin International announced the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval of an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) solution for the ATR 42 and ATR 72 turboprop aircraft. To achieve this certification, Garmin worked closely with Scandinavian Avionics, who developed and certified a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that provides operators an economical solution with efficient installation and low downtime. Operators now have an attractive option to equip their aircraft and achieve compliance, which is required prior to June 7, 2023.

“We are proud to continue providing solutions to Air Transport customers worldwide and build upon our growing portfolio of ADS-B solutions that address the needs of this category of aircraft,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “Garmin continues to pioneer the industry on a global scale with a broad range of ADS-B solutions that span all segments of aviation, and we are excited to provide these commercial aircraft with a reliable and cost-effective all-in-one technology solution for years to come.”

Garmin Autoland honoured with Top Flight Award from Aviation International News

Garmin International, Inc. announced that its revolutionary Garmin Autoland system was honored with the inaugural Top Flight Award presented by Aviation International News (AIN) in the Contribution to Safety category. Part of the Garmin Autonomi™ family of autonomous safety-enhancing technologies for aircraft, Autoland is the world’s first certified system of its kind with the ability to activate during an emergency situation to autonomously control and land an aircraft without human intervention1.