Owners of the Garmin GTN series of navigators will be getting free upgrades in May. The touchscreen navcom systems will now offer visual approach guidance, which provides lateral and vertical navigation advisory data to assist VFR pilots with flying a stabilized approach down a standard glideslope to any runway—including those not served by instrument approaches. The recently released Garmin G1000 NXi has a similar feature. The GTN navigators will also now offer vertical guidance (LNAV+V) on non-WAAS/SBAS approaches.
Also announced today, Garmin’s experimental aircraft group, TeamX, have released a new form factor G3X Touch for non-certified aircraft. The existing 7-inch and 10.6-inch landscape configurations will be joined by a 7-inch portrait configuration, designed for aircraft with less panel space. A single G3X, starting at $2,995, can be used as a combined PFD/MFD or paired up to three other G3X displays. G3X systems can be integrated with engine indication system (EIS) information, ADS-B traffic and weather, SiriusXM aviation weather, transponder, remote radio, audio panel and autopilot for systems integration comparable to that provided by certified flight decks like the G1000.
