Garmin has announced that several new features are available on its GTN Xi series of navigators including a dynamic glide range ring and best glide airport indicator. According to the company, the glide range ring is designed to improve situational awareness in the event of an engine failure by “depicting the estimated area that the aircraft can reach when it’s configured for best glide range.” The displayed ring takes into account terrain data and wind, if wind data is provided by a GDL 69 or FIS-B, or calculated winds from a compatible Garmin fight display.
Similarly, the best glide airport indicator recommends an airport based on distance, runway length at the airport, wind data and airport weather, if available through FIS-B or Sirius XM. The indicator can be displayed alone or alongside the glide range ring. In addition, the nearest airport list has been updated to show which airports are estimated to be within gliding distance. The GTN Xi upgrade also offers remote radio control, a new radios page, quicker page navigation, new user fields, database sync with Garmin GPS 175, GNC 355, and GNX 375, and the ability to select a default page to display on startup.
