As part of ringing in the new year, Robinson Helicopter has added new avionics options to its R66 Turbine helicopter. Customers can now choose Garmin’s G500H glass panel and the Genesys Aerosystems HeliSAS autopilot. Previous glass-panel options for the R66 include Aspen Avionics’ PFD and MFD solutions.
Garmin’s G500H brings primary flight and navigation information on two flat screens mounted on a newly designed panel in the R66. Navigation information comes from Garmin’s GTN 600/700 touchscreen series navigators mounted below the PFD and MFD screens. In addition to the primary flight and moving map capabilities, the G500H brings the availability of Garmin’s Helicopter Synthetic Vision and Terrain graphics as well as either Garmin’s FlightCharts or Jeppesen’s Chartview instrument charts.
XM weather and radio can also be added through Garmin’s GDL 69A XM receiver. The data can be displayed either on the G500H MFD or GTN navigator.
G500H equipped R66s can also add the HeliSAS autopilot, which can stabilize roll and pitch. The pilot can override the autopilot function by simply applying pressure to the cyclic. In addition to its altitude and heading hold capability, the autopilot can track navigation aids and fly approaches, including vertical guidance.
The G500H adds $31,900, not including the GTN navigators, while the HeliSAS costs $46,000.
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