Garmin International announced this week it expects to complete an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) this month for its GI 275 electronic flight instrument for Part 27-certified VFR Bell 206 helicopters. The announcement came at the annual Helicopter Association International HeliExpo trade show in Dallas. More models expected to be added to the certification list in the second half of this year.
The GI 275 is designed to fit in a standard round-instrument panel cutout as a “direct replacement for a variety of legacy primary flight instruments in the cockpit, including the primary attitude indicator, course deviation indicator (CDI), horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or the multi-function display (MFD).”
Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing, said, “The GI 275 [is] an economical and scalable approach to upgrade your avionics, and we look forward to making this versatile touchscreen flight display available on even more rotorcraft soon.”
When filling the role of a primary attitude indicator, for example, the GI 275 increases reliability compared with mechanical vacuum-driven instruments, saves weight and lowers maintenance costs. Buyers who choose to add Garmin’s optional Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology will have a 3D topographic view of terrain, traffic, obstacles, power lines, airport signposts and more. Other data displayed includes outside air temperature, groundspeed, true airspeed and wind information. Wireless connectivity shares GPS position information and backup attitude display data to the Garmin Pilot app for supplemental situational awareness.
