Page 17 - TNTMay18

Garmin GFC 600
New autopilot is a retrofit game-changer.
Bottom line: I really like the GFC 600 autopilot! My impression is that the GFC 600 will be the industry-standard retrofit solution for the Twin & Turbine fleet in record time. It is smooth, precise, interfaces easily with the pilot, and has a bunch of neat features
that dramatically improve safety. I may sound like a salesman from Garmin with this article (not accurate...I received nothing from them!), but I think this autopilot deserves the praise I’m about to pour on it. Yes, it’s that good.
Although Garmin has yet to start an STC program for some Twin & Turbine air- planes, they have acknowledged there is demand and have placed many T& T aircraft on the list of airframes they plan to focus on in the next 12 months. So far, they have certified the GFC 600/500 on the Beechcraft Baron B55, Bonanza 36, A36 and A36TC, and Cessna 182. Programs currently in progress are the Baron 58 and Cessna 340. And on the agenda are several of the Cessna 400-series twins, the Socata TBM, and the PA46 Malibu/Mirage/JetPROP aircraft.
Editor Dianne White and I were both then invited to fly one of the first airplanes to have the GFC 600 installed: N452C, a 1999 Bonanza A36 owned by Tom Haas. Tom also owns Park Rapids Avionics in Park Rapids, MN (www.parkrapidsavionics.com), a prominent Garmin dealership that was selected to help launch the GFC 600. Some may remember seeing N452C at AirVenture Oshkosh last summer. It was on static display and Tom is justifiably proud of his fine aircraft. It is not only equipped with the GFC 600, but also dual G750’s that feed a G500 display. The panel was completely new (literally built for this amazing avionics suite), and this airplane is exemplary in every way.
I arrived on a cold early-spring morning with clear skies and light winds. It was a perfect day to test out the GFC 600. Tom graciously allowed me to fly left-seat on the flight. We flew around the Park Rapids, MN area testing the functions of the autopilot in just about every regime of flight, and also flew several approaches. Interestingly (it seems so to me), I pushed the autopilot on shortly after takeoff and I didn’t have to touch the controls again (even through several approaches with go-arounds) until 200 feet above the touchdown zone elevation on the final approach to landing.
GFC 600 certi cation is underway for the Cessna 340.
by Joe Casey
May 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 15
GFC 600 Certi cation Programs Planned to Begin in the Next 12-months:
Cessna 414
Model: 414A
Cessna 421
Model: 421C
Cessna Grand Caravan Model: 208B
Piper PA-46
Models: 310P, 350P*
Socata TBM
Models: 700, A, B, C1, C2, N (TBM 850)
Please note that G1000 equipped aircraft are excluded from the list above.