Putting Garmin through the paces

[ZamF16]

Flew my Bravo into Fort Worth Alliance airport today.  Winds were 160 at 24 gust to 34 knots.  Luckily, that is straight down the runway.  On final the airspeed kept oscillating +/-5 knots of my target airspeed.  I decided to let the Garmin GFC500 autopilot fly the approach.  I wanted to see how it would handle the winds.  What an amazing piece of technology.  It never deviated even the tiniest bit from course or glidepath.  In fact, I started to get concerned the G3X wasn’t working right because I never saw any movement of the course or glidepath.  It took me all the way to a 200’ decision height without the slightest deviation.  I am such a huge advocate for the Garmin G3X and GFC500 suite of avionics.  Amazing awareness and precision.  

[Pinecone]

Upgrade to GTN navigators and it gets even better.

Some guys on Beech Talk have experimented with 0-0 landings using the synthetic vision.

 

[ZamF16]

On 10/30/2024 at 9:25 AM, Pinecone said:

Upgrade to GTN navigators and it gets even better.

Some guys on Beech Talk have experimented with 0-0 landings using the synthetic vision.

 

Yes, that is the next step when my budget allows.  The autopilot upgrade was pretty pricey given the amount of labor involved.

[Oscar Avalle]

I fully agree. The combination G3X and GFC500 is amazing. two or three weeks ago I flew my first ILS with it and it blew my mind.

[bigmo]

In my previous a/c, I had the same setup (twin G3X, GFC500 and had a 175 for the navigator). I actually taught my wife how to land the plane in case of some freak emergency. An hour of buttonology, and then just showing her what to watch for on power and airspeed was all it took. I was pretty convinced if she had to, she could load an approach, let the AP fly it fully to the ground and walk away from the a/c.

A little morbid to think of, but fully possible with the technology.

With my Mooney, I've stepped back in time to a GNS480, and STEC-30 and a six pack - I don't see her getting this sucker on the ground!

 

 

[gevertex]

On 10/30/2024 at 10:25 AM, Pinecone said:

Upgrade to GTN navigators and it gets even better.

Some guys on Beech Talk have experimented with 0-0 landings using the synthetic vision.

 

What do you get with the GTN?

[ArtVandelay]

What do you get with the GTN?

Smart glide and VNAV.

[kortopates]

2 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Smart glide and VNAV.

And airways, RF leg support, programmable holds your AP will fly, visual approaches (many with GS) to virtually every runway in its database and improved VTF support on approaches (VTF includes the waypoints behind the FAF) and of course a much better moving map on the larger screen 750.

And one of favorites: DB Concierge support with the FS-510! no more data card programming except for the terrain which is seldom updated anyway.


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Edited November 7, 2024 by kortopates

[Pinecone]

And touch screen for easier/quicker use.  Especially entering in fixes and waypoints.