OEM Avionics

FreeFlight has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the installation of its RANGR FDL-978TX universal access transceiver (UAT) into AgustaWestland’s AW139 helicopter. According to FreeFlight, this is the first rule-compliant ADS-B out UAT available for Gulf of Mexico (GOMEX) helicopter operators. GOMEX presents a complex area to fly with thousands of daily helicopter flights, […]

The idea behind avionics is that they should do what we want them to do without causing undo hassle or requiring too much attention on our part, attention we should be giving to flying the airplane. It’s like Facebook, the remarkably successful website that has attracted hundreds of millions of followers by giving them what […]

Esterline CMC Electronics‘ SmartDeck integrated avionics system has its first OEM customer after Evektor of the Czech Republic this week announced the cockpit’s selection aboard the multipurpose EV-55 Outback twin turboprop. SmartDeck has had a long gestation, starting out in the mid 1990s as a project begun by Goodrich. The cockpit system has been improved […]

Robinson Helicopter is looking at making the Aspen Evolution Flight Display (EFD) a factory installed option, Robinson head Kurt Robinson said at Heli-Expo. During his remarks, Robinson praised the compact form factor and low cost of the Aspen option, while stopping short of giving any firm promises or timetables for availability as, he explained, the […]

(February 2012) The first time I climbed into the Remos G-3 it was for my Sport Pilot discovery flight. The “shiny” Dynon Avionics glass and Garmin GPS, navcom and radio did not go unnoticed as I scanned the panel. “Wow, this Sport Pilot stuff is cool,” I thought. Especially since prior to this flight I […]

(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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]