New product introductions are red meat for an avionics writer! My role as an independent avionics writer for this magazine is to provide you with a new article every 30 days. This all started for me in the Summer of 2013 when I first submitted an unsolicited article to Cessna Owner Organization. They liked it and said to keep them coming and I have done so for the last ten years. That can be a lot of pressure, so when a new product comes along, it does take the pressure off. I’ve mentioned this before: COVID and the supply chain issues have significantly affected new product introductions and ramped up the pressure.
It is safe to say that Garmin is the leader in General Aviation avionics and has certainly been the most prolific. As a Garmin dealer from 1997-2013, I watched Garmin constantly coming out with new technology. The portables particularly. Garmin seemed to have a new portable GPS every Oshkosh, and this was actually a problem at times. I would get calls from customers who had just bought the newest Garmin portable a few months back and scold me for not telling them about the new model coming out at Oshkosh. Garmin would tell us about it the week before. So, when Garmin announced recently that they had new products for the GA market, I was relieved. There’s my July article … but I was also curious. We have not seen much from Garmin since COVID, so I checked. Since January 2020, just before the COVID pandemic started, Garmin had introduced just six new products for the certified market, two of them are the D2 “Air” and D2 “Mach1 Pro” watches, if they even count. They introduced the GI 275’s in January 2020, and since then the Aero 760 portable, Planesync, and now in January 2024, the GTR 205 and GNS 215 Slimline Com and Navcom, which we are about to talk about. My curiosity went further, and I asked a Garmin dealer friend to look at the three years’ prior.
During the period, January 2017 to December 2019 (three years), Garmin introduced twenty-two new products including the G5’s, GDL-50, -51 and -52, and the GDL 82 remote UAT. Garmin also introduced the GFC 500/600 autopilots, GMA-345 Audio Panel, GWX 75 and 75R Radar, the GTX 325 Mode A/C transponder and the GTX 335D and 345D ADS-B ready transponders with diversity. They also produced the GPS 175, GNX 375, and later the GNC 335 WAAS GPS’s that finally offered legacy pilots an alternative to the expense of an integrated navigator. And finally the Certified G3X Touch. So, if you were wondering how much of an affect COVID and the supply chain have had, you can see the effect on Garmin. Is there another explanation? I’ve had two avionics people, one a shop and one a manufacturer suggest that Garmin was making a move towards the corporate market. Does that mean that the average GA pilot is going to see less from Garmin in the future? Time will tell.
What we have seen primarily from Garmin in the last few years has been software. Incredible Software! Life saving software! Each addresses a problem you might encounter in flight. Some apply to affordable aircraft, but the best is Autoland and you’ll need a big budget for that. Check my article in the November 2021 issue for more on Garmin AutonomiTM.
Garmin AutonomiTM includes:
- Garmin ESP-Envelope Stability and Protection
- Garmin Emergency Descent Mode
- Garmin Smart Rudder Bias for Twins
- Garmin SmartGlide
- Garmin Autoland
We have time here so let’s visit what I would call the best we have seen from Garmin: Autoland! This is an excerpt from my 2021 article.
The Problem: You’re a Non-Pilot Passenger and the Pilot Can’t Fly!
The Solution: Garmin Autoland. We have read or seen situations where the pilot in an aircraft becomes incapacitated and with the help from someone on the ground manages to talk a non-pilot down to a safe, but often eventful landing. The movies have always had fun with this scenario but the reality of finding yourself, the passenger in an aircraft when the pilot can no longer fly … is not fun! Commercial aircraft have had the ability to self-land for years but not because the pilot is unavailable, only because the WX and visibility is so bad that your typical instrument landing to minimums can’t be safely done. We never even know about it, but in a GA aircraft, when the pilot can no longer fly and you don’t know how, what do you do?
If you’re in a TBM-940 or 960, Cirrus Vision Jet or Piper M600 SLS or the new M700, you reach up and push the Autoland Button! Daher (TBM) calls it “Homesafe”, Cirrus calls it “Safe Return”, but Piper calls it what it is … Garmin “Autoland” and these are the current aircraft that offer this technology, and the technology is amazing! The common denominator being the presence of the Garmin G3000 Avionics suite that is factory installed in these aircraft. Unlike Smart Glide that can be retrofitted into your aircraft, Autoland is a factory option only. Autoland is activated by the pilot or passengers in the event the pilot is unable to fly the aircraft. It can actually activate itself if it senses (funny, I started to write “believes” there), that the pilot has “checked out”! A push of the Autoland button puts a lot of functions in play.
Communication: Autoland activates the center screen (G3000 is a three-screen system) so it visually and aurally explains to the passengers what it is going to do, and it contacts ATC and reports the situation. The passengers are shown how to communicate with ATC in a simplified manner. Autoland handles frequencies and presents a simple walkie-talkie like setup: push to talk, release to listen.
Navigation: Autoland, like Smart Glide, calculates the best airport to land based on the situation considering all the significant data, fuel load, runway length, weather conditions, etc.
Safe Conclusion: The avionics and autopilot fly a GPS precision LPV approach with no actions from the passengers. Upon a completed safe landing, the aircraft brakes and shuts down and the system advises the passengers on how to open the doors and to exit the aircraft.
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