Garmin's G1000 Avionics Package Has Type Certificates
Garmin comes to NBAA 2004 with a type certificate for its magic box—the G1000, a single unit that combines GPS/inertial navigation, automatic flight control, communications and primary flight instrumentation behind a large-screen display. The G1000 was certificated by European authorities in May for Diamond's diesel-engine TwinStar, and in June for the Cessna 182 and Diamond DA40.
A stack of new applications has made the G1000 a leader in integrated displays. The Cessna Mustang will have a three-screen G1000 system, with two primary flight displays and a multifunction display. At Oshkosh, Garmin announced that the G1000 had been selected for the Cessna 172 and 206—all Cessna piston singles except a base-level 172 will now have the G1000—and for the Raytheon Baron and Bonanza, which will be delivered as standard with the G1000 from mid-2005. Mooney announced in February that it would offer two G1000-equipped models. Also equipped with G1000 is the prototype HondaJet.
Garmin is not expected to announce new G1000 applications here at NBAA—although it is waiting for Diamond to announce an avionics choice for the D-Jet—but expects the unit to be adopted for larger aircraft: The system is modular and expandable. Retrofits, however, are a distant possibility—the G1000 does so much that retrofitting it is not trivial. (For example, a piston single would need a certificated, redundant electrical system.)
Two new products here are a terrain avoidance and warning system (TAWS) for the stand-alone GNS-530 navigation system, and XM satellite weather for the MX-20 multifunction display unit. Specialized service contractor WeatherWorks is providing weather maps to XM's uplink stations, allowing users to receive near-real-time digital weather images in flight. Passengers can use the same receiver for XM's entertainment programming. Garmin is at Booth 1222.
