Introductory Offer Of Autopilot And WAAS Priced Below Autopilot
Alone
Mooney announced at AirVenture 2008 this week its MooneyMax
Advanced Factory Maintenance facility is offering special pricing
on retrofit upgrades of the Garmin GFC 700 Autopilot with full WAAS
capability to owners of Mooney GX aircraft that were built prior to
the release of the three axis, full digital, dual channel Automatic
Flight Control System (AFCS) in November 2006.
Under terms of the deal, MooneyMax will install the GFC 700 on
Garmin G1000-equipped airplanes... AND include the full Wide Area
Augmentation System... for only $48,900. That price is actually
lower than the previously established price of $52,000 for
installation of the autopilot alone.
"This retrofit is applicable to all Mooney GX models built prior
to the FAA’s approval of the GFC700 for installation into
Mooney production aircraft," said Pete Wolak, vice president of
customer service. "The integrated autopilot greatly reduces the
pilot’s workload while increasing the capabilities of the
aircraft. By adding the full WAAS capability to this package,
we’re making it possible for Mooney operators to fly with the
most advanced flight management and control technologies available
in this class of aircraft.
"We have already begun accepting reservations for these
retrofits and have limited capacity before October 31, 2008," he
added.
Garmin's GFC 700 is a three axis, fully digital, dual channel,
fail passive attitude-based Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).
It features roll, pitch and yaw control, with automatic Pitch Trim
and Mach Trim control, and additional features not found in other
autopilots including Flight Level Change. 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, including
the ability to maintain airspeed references and to optimize
performance over the entire airspeed envelope.
The FAA granted approval of WAAS capable equipment for Mooney
airplanes on April 30 of this year. WAAS uses satellite-based and
approximately 25 ground reference stations positioned across the
United States that monitor GPS satellite data. Two master stations,
located on either coast, collect data from the reference stations
and create a GPS correction message for precise lateral and
vertical approach guidance. WAAS improves position accuracy from a
typical 49 feet down to approximately nine feet.