Garmin has received Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate approval for its GHA 15 height advisor for installation in certified Class I and II aircraft. Previously limited to experimental aircraft, the unit uses radar technology to provide height above ground level information and can display data on compatible GI 275 electronic flight instruments.
The radar-based system processes multiple readings per second to maintain continuous AGL indications over over water and varied terrain. Height readouts can be displayed up to 500 feet AGL, and the connected GI 275 can provide configurable audio callouts beginning at 300 feet and continuing to 1 foot to assist pilots during approaches and operations where barometric altitude information may be limited.
The GHA 15 integrates its electronics into a single module mounted on the underside of the aircraft. Garmin said the unit is a bit larger than a deck of cards and weighs less than one pound, requiring limited space and modification for installation. The company said the device is now available for certified aircraft.
I installed one of these in my experimental RV-10 and have been flying with it for a couple of months. Having the lady annunciate in your ear your height above touchdown while you are concentrating visually on your arrival has quite a focusing effect on making a good landing. (Also hearing “200” in one’s ear upon reaching minimums and not seeing the runway is an unequivocal reminder it is time to go missed on a precision approach.) An important benefit is that this radar altimeter uses the 24GHz kappa band that is immune to interference from 5G cell towers (unlike other certified ones that use the 4Ghz band). So for me at least, worth the price of admission (which as always is lower for experimentals than certified aircraft).
Is there a list of “certified aircraft” available for the product”?
Lemme guess the price of this new Garmin ‘gadget’ for ‘certified aircraft’… sized no bigger than a deck of cards and weighing in less than a pound: $2,199.99.
Whoops. I missed it. $2,375… for the ‘certified’ version! Anymore, anything Garmin makes with ‘airplane’ stamped on it, is priced crazily OUT of this world, pricing the average General Aviation pilot OUT of the market. Just imagine, $399 just for a replacement battery for a Garmin 696, and those 6-cells inside can be had for under $30 bucks. That’s what’s WRONG with Garmin and G/A today. GREED!
RV10ator correctly says “reminder” when mentioning the 200 call. Radar alt during approach is not necessarily height above touchdown because terrain features under the approach path are not taken into account. So it is a nice tool to have but the information it supplies must be understood.