TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014
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Garmin downsizes G3X Touch, adds new connectivity options across products By Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside
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armin International is continuing to evolve its avionics product lines for experimental and certified aircraft, announcing this week at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 a new, slimmer version of its G3X Touch glass panel along with new cockpit connectivity options for the company’s GTN line of touch-screen navigators and the venerable GNS 430W/530W products. The new, smaller G3X Touch incorporates a 7-inch flat-glass display to complement the 10.6-inch version announced earlier this year. According to the company, the larger, original G3X Touch display was too big for some homebuilt airplanes or light-sport aircraft (LSA). The slimmer G3X Touch was developed to help Garmin expand its market. Up to three G3X Touch displays can be installed in a homebuilt or LSA in any combination of the original 10.6 or new 7-inch size. Regardless of the display size chosen, pilots will find a built-in attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) along with a host of other capabilities in each G3X. Synthetic vision is available as an option.
Meanwhile, Garmin announced Flight Stream, a new Bluetooth-based system providing wireless connections from a personal device running the Garmin Pilot electronic flight bag app to compatible panel-mounted avionics. Two hardware solutions are available: The basic Flight Stream 110 links the Pilot app to the GDL 88 and GDL 69 receivers to display weather, traffic, SiriusXM audio, and other information while Flight Stream 210 links a device running Pilot to the GTN and GNS 430W/530W series of navigators. The Flight Stream 210 also includes an AHRS to display attitude and heading, among other information, on your mobile device. Garmin’s G3X Touch, designed for experimental aircraft, already has the Bluetooth wireless gateway built in. According to the company, Garmin’s Flight Stream box is about the size of a smartphone, which means great flexibility for installation. Connecting a few wires is necessary, but FAA approval is covered by the same STC used to install the equipment to which it connects. Garmin anticipates the two most useful capabilities of Flight Stream will be the ability to load flight plans directly from a
smartphone or tablet running the Pilot app into the navigators and to display flight information on the device. Flight Stream also works with Garmin portable devices, including the VIRB video camera and the D2 Pilot GPS. Up to four mobile electronic devices running the Pilot app can connect to Flight Stream simultaneously. The basic Flight Stream 110 is priced at $549, and the full-capability 210 costs $999. Deliveries are expected to begin shortly after AirVenture. The company also announced enhancements and new features for its GTN touch-screen avionics. The new capabilities include database syncing capabilities for multiple GTN unit installations, FastFind—a predictive way to enter flight-plan information—and WireAware, a wirestrike avoidance technology available for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Many of these new features are enabled by a free software update, bringing even more advanced capabilities to existing avionics. “Since the GTN’s introduction over three years ago, we have listened to our customers, incorporated their requests and
further expanded the capability of the GTN avionics with five major software updates,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation marketing and sales. “The GTN 750/650 series is designed with a growthoriented architecture and we are excited to adapt it to our expanded Connext portfolio of solutions to provide connectivity between tablets and avionics,” he added. To learn more about these and other new features in Garmin’s avionics for experimental and certified aircraft, visit the company in Garmin Exhibit Hangar D, booths 4085-4091.
PHOTO BY GARMIN
HondaJet makes another Oshkosh first By Ric Reynolds
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onda Aircraft Company President and CEO Michimasa Fujino beamed with pride Monday morning at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 as he stood before a large crowd on Boeing Plaza with the company’s first production HondaJet. It was, he said, the latest in a long list of milestones celebrated in Oshkosh. “My first time in Oshkosh was the late 1980s, and I remember being so impressed by the new aircraft and the new concepts,” he said. “Aviation enthusiasts who love airplanes...I’d never seen so many kinds of aircraft.” He also claims never to have even touched an airplane until he was in the United States. “I was shocked to learn about home-
builders building their own aircraft in their garages. Even more surprised that they fly them!” he said. That ignited the dream to design an aircraft and someday present it at Oshkosh. He realized that dream at AirVenture 2005 with the world debut of the HondaJet. “AirVenture is always a special site for HondaJet firsts,” Fujino stated. Honda Aircraft Company claims its distinctive Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) for the two GE Honda HF120 turbofan engines powering the jet dramatically improves performance and fuel efficiency, minimizes ground-detected noise, and allows for the roomiest cabin and largest baggage capacity in its class. Fujino stated deliveries of the first
airplanes would occur in 2015. The company is headquartered on Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a half-
million square foot production facility. The HondaJet is on display until Friday at the Honda exhibit located just north of Boeing Plaza.
AIRVENTURE TODAY
The official daily newspaper of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh • Vol. 15, No. 3 PUBLISHER: Jack J. Pelton, EAA Chairman of the Board EDITOR IN CHIEF: J. Mac McClellan EDITOR: Ric Reynolds MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside PHOTO EDITOR: Chloe Amato EDITORIAL STAFF: Marino Boric, Antonio Davis, Randy Dufault, Jack Hodgson, Frederick A. Johnsen, Barbara Schmitz, James Wynbrandt COPY EDITORS: Katherine Pecora, Colleen Walsh
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mariano Rosales, Phil Weston DESIGN: Jenny Hussin, Chris Livieri ADVERTISING: Sue Anderson, Larry Phillip AirVenture Today is published during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014, July 27-August 3, 2014. It is distributed free on the convention grounds as well as other locations in Oshkosh and surrounding communities. Stories and photos are Copyrighted 2014 by AirVenture Today and EAA. Reproduction by any means is prohibited without written consent.