Piper To Launch Garmin G3000 Cockpit

Garmin believes the G3000 will be "the next leap forward" in the general aviation cockpits

Piper Aircraft is launching Garmin's new G3000 avionics package on the single-engine Piper Jet, the companies announced. Garmin unveiled the G3000 during this week's National Business Aviation Association 62nd Annual Meeting and Convention in Orlando, Fla., as the first touchscreen-controlled integrated flightdeck for light turbine aircraft.

Piper in 2007 had selected Garmin as the vendor to supply the avionics suite for the PiperJet, but did not finalize the specifics of the package at the time. Piper executives had said the cockpit would be based on Garmin technology but the final product would incorporate the newest advancements available.

Garmin believes the G3000 will be "the next leap forward" in the general aviation cockpits. "It promises to be one of the most intuitive and powerful flightdeck systems ever designed for Part 23 turbine aircraft," said Gary Kelley, Garmin vice president of marketing.

The system integrates several system components driven by a new GTC 570 vehicle management system, including a 5.7-inch diagonal touchscreen control that uses a desktop-like menu interface. The GTC 570 also enables full control of radios, audio management, flight management, weather systems management and graphical systems display, among others.

The G3000 eliminates conventional buttons, switches and knobs, using screen-technology in their place. The G3000's multi-function display incorporates split-screen capability so pilots are able to simultaneously view maps, charts, terrain awareness and warning system, flight planning, weather or video input. The package also includes Garmin's synthetic vision technology, SafeTaxi, Flitecharts and ChartView (optional).

Garmin expects to win technical standard order certification for the G3000 in the second half of 2011.

Piper, meanwhile, is still finalizing the timetable for the PiperJet, company executives said last week. The proof-of-concept aircraft has logged more than 320 flight hours and 160 flights. "All initial data has been very positive," said Piper President John Becker, who added the aircraft was meeting or exceeding initial speed, range and climb performance targets.


Source: AviationWeek