Garmin International
has announced that the company received an STC from the FAA for the
GFC 700 autopilot for Raytheon's Beechcraft Bonanza G36.
"The integration of the GFC 700 with the G1000 is seamless and
pilots will be amazed at its rich feature set and high level of
performance in handling the aircraft," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's
vice president of marketing.
"Today's announcement is an historic day for us and for general
aviation. In addition to being the first entirely new autopilot
designed and certified in the 21st century for this class of
airplane, the GFC 700 marks the first time general aviation pilots
will have the option of flying with a completely integrated cockpit
-- where every element of the avionics panel was designed to
communicate with each other for the purpose of reducing pilot
workload and enhancing safety of flight."
As general aviation's first and only fully integrated avionics
system, the GFC 700 is capable of using all of the data available
to the G1000. This includes the ability to maintain airspeed
references and to optimize performance over the entire airspeed
envelope.
"We are very pleased to be the first manufacturer to offer
Garmin's autopilot on the G1000 equipped Bonanza G36," said Randy
Groom, Beechcraft president and general manager.
"No other four- or six-seat aircraft provides such a combination
of performance, comfort and integrated avionics."
The Garmin G1000 integrates all primary flight, navigation,
communication, terrain, traffic, weather, engine instrumentation,
and crew-alerting system data and presents the composite
information in brilliant, sunlight-readable color on two 10.4-inch,
high-definition displays.
Following are some of the standard system components and
features of the G1000 on the Beechcraft Bonanza G36:
- The primary flight
display (PFD) replaces many of the traditional cockpit instruments
and presents this information in an integrated fashion on a
large-format display, and the multi-function display (MFD) puts all
aircraft-systems monitoring and flight-planning functions at the
pilot's fingertips
- Integrated solid-state Attitude and Heading Reference System,
which can align while in motion, including in-flight dynamic
restarts
- Integrated digital air-data computer
- Integrated engine-monitoring display
- Integrated three-axis automatic flight control system
- Integrated Mode S transponder with Traffic Information
Service
- Dual integrated radio modules that provide WAAS-upgradeable IFR
oceanic-approved GPS; VHF navigation with ILS; and VHF
communication with 16-watt transceivers and 8.33-kHz channel
spacing
- Integrated Class-B Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS)
with worldwide terrain and obstacle database
- Integrated satellite weather datalink and digital-quality audio
via XM Satellite Radio
- Integrated digital audio control system
- Integrated design with reversionary capabilities, allowing all
flight-critical data to transfer seamlessly to a single display for
added safety during flight