avionics

(February 2012) Flat-panel avionics systems for light airplanes, which seemed like the stuff of science fiction just a handful of years ago, have been around long enough to advance to a second generation. As far as Garmin avionics are concerned, that second generation of glass panels takes the form of G2000, a system that makes […]

European aviators can now install Garmin’s GTN 650 and 750 GPS/navcom systems after EASA signed off the validation paperwork for the STC Garmin received from the FAA in March for the touchscreen navigators. To achieve EASA’s validation, the Garmin 650 and 750 had to meet European regulatory requirements, such as 8.33-kHz VHF communication, immunity from […]

(October 2011) If you’ve ever wished you could create a flight plan on your iPad and then somehow automatically beam it to the avionics in your airplane, you’re in luck. Aspen Avionics has introduced a Wi-Fi-based technology called Connected Panel that will let pilots do just that — and a whole lot more. The first […]

Hawker Beechcraft‘s Global Customer Support (GCS) unit announced a synthetic-vision upgrade program for all airplanes in the Hawker and Beechcraft families equipped with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21. The upgrade requires the addition of a new LRU to the Pro Line 21 platform. The hardware provides the flight crew with a simulated 3D view of […]

Rockwell Collins has announced a new version of its touch-screen Pro Line Fusion avionics system for the turboprop and light business jet market. The system will be available for new airplanes and as a retrofit for airplanes equipped with Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line 21 avionics suite. With all the Pro Line 21 equipped airplanes on […]

Gray and rainy skies kept some pilots from flying to Hartford, Connecticut, in time for the start of AOPA Summit on Thursday, but those who filed IFR, flew by airline or drove were greeted by a busy agenda, a packed aircraft static display and an exhibit hall brimming with new aviation technologies. Garmin drew a […]

Hilton Software, the maker of the WingXPro7 aviation navigation iPad app, announced it has developed an interface for Aspen Avionics’ Connected Panel product, introduced earlier this month at EAA AirVenture. Aspen’s Connected Panel allows two-way wireless communication between panel avionics and personal smart devices, including iPads and Android smartphones. The supported app from Hilton Software […]

My wife and I visited Bell Helicopter in Texas recently for recurrent training in the Bell 407. The day following completion of our training, we had the opportunity to make a 90-minute flight in the new Garmin G1000-equipped Bell 407GX. I have extensive Garmin experience, and have flown G1000-equipped fixed-wing aircraft since Cessna first offered […]

Icon Aircraft last week released the details of its remarkable week at AirVenture. The startup LSA manufacturer scored a total of 143 deposits for its composite folding-wing Icon A5 amphibious sport airplane, which pushes the order book to nearly 700, the company said, turning the calendar for first available delivery positions into 2015. The company […]

The introduction of Garmin’s new GTN touch-screen navigators, the GTN 650 and the large GTN 750, is remarkable in itself, but the fact that we’ve almost come to expect such works of seeming magic in our cockpits made me think back to the original precursor of the GTN products, the GNS 430, which I met […]