Avionics

Garmin’s GFC 500 autopilot is still very new, and supported aircraft are being added all the time. TROY WHISTMAN, a Cessna Flyer Association member, was selected and agreed to loan his 1980 Cessna TR182 Turbo Skylane RG as a test aircraft for Garmin’s certification of the autopilot in retractable Skylanes. Here is his story, including tips for how you might improve the chances of your aircraft being selected, too. The morning of Monday, July 15, 2019, dawned over Olathe, Kansas, with a beautiful sunrise, as I awoke with a burst of excitement. Today, with any luck, I’d be picking up…

In the last article, we left off with our shiny new Garmin GFC 500 autopilot fully configured for departure. We’d been instructed to “fly heading 180, climb and maintain 3,000 feet.” Takeoff: From runway to airborne With the preflight work done, take off as normal. Saying “Gear up, flaps up, yaw damper on,” will make you feel like one of the big kids, as you press the “YD” key and let the servos handle the rudder. Above 800 feet agl with the airplane cleaned up, reach over and enable the autopilot by pressing the “AP” button whenever you’re ready. If…

Author TROY WHISTMAN walks you through preparation for a flight with the state-of-the-art Garmin GFC 500 digital autopilot. With Garmin’s introduction of the GFC 500 digital autopilot, more accurately an Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), capabilities previously absent in small General Aviation aircraft are now available for about $25,000 installed. Your vintage Cessna may have come from the factory with a single-axis Cessna Nav-o-Matic that could “kind of” hold a heading or scallop along a VOR course utilizing analog inputs, while you managed altitude and trim settings. Newer digital systems like the GFC 500 from Garmin, the DFC90 from Avidyne,…

Contributing editor MICHAEL LEIGHTON reviews AeroVonics’ new MFD and shares his interview with one of the company’s owners. AeroVonics is shipping the experimental version of the AV-30 3-inch PFD, and is taking preproduction orders for the STC’d version. In 2016, the FAA established a new certification process called NORSEE. That stands for Non-Required Safety Enhancing Equipment. Since that time, several companies have availed themselves of this process that allows aircraft owners to permanently install things like carbon monoxide detectors, USB power receptacles and sun visors in our certificated GA aircraft with a simple logbook entry from an A&P. Fast forward…