Garmin has taken another significant step in expanding its suite of advanced avionics solutions with the certification of its GFC 600 digital autopilot for Piper PA-31T Cheyenne and Cheyenne II aircraft. This milestone enhances the safety, reliability, and performance of these twin-turboprop aircraft, further cementing Garmin’s reputation for innovation in general aviation.
Garmin announces it has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for the GFC™ 600 digital autopilot in Piper PA-31T Cheyenne and Cheyenne II aircraft. The GFC 600 digital autopilot is designed for high performance piston single and twin-engine aircraft and also provides an advanced autopilot solution for both jet and turbine aircraft that have a wide range of speed and performance characteristics. Additionally, Smart Rudder Bias is now certified for Piper PA-31T aircraft equipped with the GFC 600 autopilot, further growing the list of compatible aircraft to offer this safety-enhancing technology.
Full-featured autopilot
The GFC 600 digital autopilot is intended for piston single/twin-engine and turbine aircraft that have a wide range of speed and performance characteristics and provides a long list of existing general aviation aircraft with a simple, lightweight, cost-effective autopilot upgrade path. Incorporating solid state attitude with robust self-monitoring capabilities, the GFC 600 provides superior autopilot performance, greater reliability, and tremendous safety tools.
In addition to traditional autopilot capabilities such as altitude hold, vertical speed and heading modes, the GFC 600 also includes:
- Premium functions and advanced capabilities such as altitude pre-select and indicated airspeed hold mode
- VNAV can fly a fully coupled vertical descent profile with automatic step-down altitude captures
- Dedicated LVL button can automatically engage the autopilot to restore the aircraft to straight and level flight with one press
- Underspeed and overspeed protection
- Select, couple and fly various instrument approaches, including GPS, ILS, VOR, LOC and back course approaches when paired with a compatible Garmin GPS navigator
- Yaw Damping (YD) mode minimises yawing oscillations while also helping to maintain coordinated flight
- Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP™) functions independently of the autopilot and works in the background while the pilot is hand-flying the aircraft to help avoid inadvertent flight attitudes or bank angles by nudging the pilot to return the aircraft back to an appropriate flight attitude
- A mode controller with a colour Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen that presents mode annunciations in a format similar to Garmin TXi™ flight displays for easy reference by the pilot
Smart Rudder Bias
Part of the Garmin Autonomí™ family of autonomous flight technologies, Smart Rudder Bias provides pilots with assistance against the hazardous effects of one-engine inoperative (OEI) events when the aircraft is appropriately equipped. The system continuously monitors engine parameters using Engine Indication System (EIS) data displayed on a G600 TXi flight display and activates when the system detects a predetermined power differential between each engine. Once activated, rudder force is dynamically adjusted to aid a pilot in providing enough force to the rudder to help control a sideslip. A yellow annunciator for the associated inoperative engine is conveniently displayed along with autopilot annunciations on the G600 TXi flight display, helping the pilot more quickly identify the issue.
The GFC 600 digital autopilot for the Piper PA-31T Cheyenne and Cheyenne II is available immediately through select Garmin authorised dealers. Garmin continues to add additional aircraft models to the growing STC list for the GFC 600 autopilot.
Things to note:
- Smart Rudder Bias requires other Garmin avionics, which are sold separately
- Requires a compatible flight display. VNAV requires a GTN or GTN Xi series navigator
