Garmin, based in Olathe, Kansas, announced on January 31 that its GFC 600 autopilot is now certified for King Air 200 aircraft. The FAA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) allows King Air 200 owners to upgrade their autopilot and enables an all-Garmin scalable avionics retrofit.
The GFC 600 autopilot, similar to the GFC 700, is used in high-performance single and multiengine aircraft, and in jet aircraft. Its basic features include altitude hold, vertical speed, and heading modes, and “the GFC 600 also includes altitude preselect, VNAV1, Level Mode, underspeed and overspeed protection and more,” according to the company.
“Pilots can also select, couple and fly various instrument approaches, including GPS, ILS, VOR, LOC and back course approaches when paired with a compatible GPS navigator,” Garmin said.
The GPS’s features can help pilots with missed approaches, a straight and level autopilot function available at the touch of a button, and underspeed and overspeed protections to help prevent stalls and exceeding maximum structural speeds. Premium functions include airspeed hold mode and attitude pre-select options.
“As a standard feature, pilots receive Garmin Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) with the GFC 600 digital autopilot, which works to assist the pilot in maintaining the aircraft in a stable flight condition,” Garmin said in a statement. “ESP functions independently of the autopilot and works in the background to help pilots avoid inadvertent flight attitudes or bank angles and can help provide airspeed protection while the pilot is hand-flying the aircraft.”
The GFC 600 includes six variants, and Garmin says it will continue working to get FAA approval for more aircraft models for the autopilot over the next year.
