Pilots who fly with Garmin’s latest G1000 NXi integrated flight deck know the truth: Once you go NXi, you’ll never want to go back. The upgraded version of the original G1000 flight deck is offered in a long list of new GA aircraft, and is quickly making its mark in the retrofit market as well. Now, Garmin has added five Cessna and Beechcraft models to the list of airplanes that are eligible for retrofit upgrade to the G1000 NXi, at a price that many buyers will find appealing.
Aircraft owners can soon upgrade to the G1000 NXi in the Cessna 172, 182 and 206, and Beechcraft Bonanza and Baron, if the airplane is already equipped with a WAAS-capable G1000 integrated flight deck. The NXi upgrade offers faster processors, a long list of enhanced features and sharper displays that add up to a clear improvement over the legacy G1000 system that has been installed in many thousands of GA airplanes over the years.
Garmin expects deliveries of G1000 NXi systems for the Cessna and Beechcraft models to begin next month. The upgrade carries a list price of $28,995 and is available for purchase through Garmin authorized dealers. The upgraded components come with a two-year warranty.
Aircraft owners and operators can upgrade to the G1000 NXi with surprisingly little aircraft down time and disruption of the panel because the displays preserve the same footprint and connectors, so panel and wiring modifications are minimized, Garmin points out.
“Based on the success of the G1000 NXi upgrade programs that are available today, we’re excited to deliver this upgrade to thousands of additional aircraft owners and operators,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “With the G1000 NXi, customers experience faster performance and find tremendous value in new features like wireless cockpit connectivity, visual approach guidance, SurfaceWatch, HSI map and more, all of which make this upgrade an absolute must-have in every aircraft.”
The G1000 NXi brings wireless connectivity, enhanced safety tools, HSI map overlay and more to the cockpit. As part of the G1000 NXi upgrade for these models, Flight Stream 510 and Connext technology enables Database Concierge, the wireless transfer of aviation databases from the Garmin Pilot app on a mobile device to the G1000 NXi integrated flight deck, Garmin said. Additional features enabled by the Flight Stream 510 include two-way flight plan transfer and sharing of traffic, weather, GPS information, back-up attitude information and more, among the G1000 NXi and the Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go and ForeFlight Mobile applications.
The NXi system also brings upgraded and dual-core processors that provide smoother panning and faster map rendering. Because the flight displays initialize in seconds, pilots have immediate access to frequencies, flight plan data and more, saving valuable time in the cockpit, Garmin notes. LED back-lighting also offers display brightness and clarity, reduced power consumption and improved dimming performance.
