Technology Fit for a King

Garmin Autoland – Landing in 1 minute – on Final RWY 20 KATA

With such a strong place in aviation, flying the Beechcraft King Air is always fun. I previously flew the King Ranch edition of the King Air 350i for our May 2019 issue of Twin & Turbine. This summer, I was offered the opportunity to fly yet another unique member of the King Air family – Garmin Aviation’s King Air B200. This one is equipped with the latest version of the G1000 NXi avionics suite, with a twist, Garmin’s Autothrottle and Autoland. Previously, this unique capability was only available on select G3000 installations. Not only was this the first G1000 with these features, but it was also the first multi-engine aircraft to feature this amazing combination.
My son Tigre and I met with the

Garmin team at the Appleton, Wisconsin airport (KATW) during EAA AirVenture. Mikayla Minnick was able to arrange a group that included Aaron Newman-Test Pilot, Will Johnson-Flight Test Engineer, Scott Frye-Sales Manager, Kyle Ludwick-Marketing Manager, and Jessica Koss, who, in addition to pilot coordinator duties, has also served as a test pilot in the program.

At our meeting at the Appleton Flight Center FBO, we discussed what makes these new capabilities tick. Garmin’s King Air hosted the latest hardware version of the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics. You need the additional computing power offered with NXi to operate autothrottles and autoland. Garmin then had to determine how to control the throttles, brakes, landing gear, and other previously manually operated systems. They developed a perfect solution for the throttles and brake control – their GSA 87 autopilot servo, which is compact and proven in thousands of aircraft.

The hardware was only the beginning of their development; the next hurdle was the software integration. One of the most critical parameters of operating a turboprop engine is power management, to maximize power but also fly within torque and ITT (Inter Turbine Temperature) limits. Exceed these limits, and you may damage the engine, requiring a costly repair. To develop Garmin Autothrottle system and the vastly more complicated Autoland, control of the engine within limits is imperative. The Garmin upgrade gets as close to a FADEC-controlled engine as you can obtain in the King Air.

The Autothrottle option, available as a stand-alone upgrade without Autoland, can be enabled from takeoff to touchdown, using the manual speed mode or following an FMS-derived schedule. For takeoff, the pilot simply advances the engine power levers (EPL), and nearing full takeoff power; the auto-throttle system will advance them to maximum power – within engine limits. During the climb, cruise, and descent, you can use the manual speed selector or follow the FMS schedule if a flight plan is loaded. Both will control within the speed limitations of the King Air.

It was a beautiful day to fly at Appleton, with just a few cells in the area. The upgraded G1000 NXi suite feature set installed included the optional SafeTaxi, an enhanced alternative to using the FAA or Jeppesen surface charts. This NXi software release also incorporates the new 3D SafeTaxi that provides an even more enhanced view, offering two views – exocentric 3D Taxi and 2D Flight. Coupled with SurfaceWatch, it gives pilots a detailed surface situational awareness, with both aural and visual alerts on the PFD. I’ve found the SafeTaxi feature very helpful, especially at night and in low visibility conditions, informing me of present position and crossing taxiways and runways—an additional tool to help pilots avoid runway incursions. We could write a separate article just on this feature alone.

We taxied to RWY 30. Cleared to takeoff, pressing the ‘AT’ button armed the autothrottle (AT). The AFCS status box on the PFD (I call it the ‘scoreboard’) shows ‘AT’ in white. Above the EIS on the MFD is displayed the AT mode, in this case, ‘AT T/O’ in white. I advanced the power levers forward toward the takeoff position. Above 1,000 ft-lbs of torque, the dual Garmin GSA 87 servos controlling the levers took over, moving them to maximum allowed power and ‘AT T/O’ changed to green. While the PIC is still responsible for monitoring the engine parameters, this system dramatically simplifies engine management. It doesn’t have all the capabilities of a fully digitally controlled engine with FADEC or PWC’s EPECS, but it is very close.

The Garmin Autothrottle has two modes – power and airspeed. For example, the system is in power mode for takeoff, providing control over power and torque – within the King Air’s engine limits. In the climb, I selected FMS mode for the autothrottle, FLC for the climb, and now it was under speed control, commanding an IAS, as I hand flew the King Air, also still maintaining power within limits.

Engines are not always matched on an aircraft. When one engine reaches an operating limit, for example, torque/ITT, etc., before the other, the system will reduce the throttles to maintain the limits and match. If the difference is significant, more than 5%, Garmin Autothrottle match will be limited to that 5%. The matching capability is also inhibited in certain phases of flight that would be detrimental, for example, takeoff or operating at less than 80% torque. The Garmin Autothrottle will also activate an ‘AT HOLD’ if the system notices a reduction in engine power on one engine during takeoff, leaving that lever fixed and maintaining speed with the other engine.

Another fascinating capability of the Garmin Autothrottle is that it provides overspeed and underspeed protection and power limit protection, even when the system is disengaged, by automatically activating the capability. The same capability controls engine parameters when the King Air is above 200 feet. The Garmin Autothrottle installation also includes a radar altimeter, which precludes underspeed protection below 50 ft AGL – an Autoland feature integrated into the system. At 45 ft AGL, the AT system enters ‘AT IDLE’ and moves the levers to idle; on touchdown, the system disengages.

The pilot can still override any AT function, just like overriding an autopilot. The Garmin Autothrottle has additional modes, such as climb (‘AT CLIMB’), which controls the power levers for torque, which are automatic depending upon the phase of flight. The pilot selects other functions to fit a particular mission. In cruise, the pilot can decide whether to cruise at maximum or normal power.

After departure and climbing over the Wisconsin countryside, I engaged the autopilot to follow our FMS flight plan to the practice area. Once there, I also wanted to evaluate the Electronic Stability Protection (ESP) feature and talk with Aaron about the Emergency Descent Mode (EDM).
I disconnected the autopilot and started my maneuvers, banking in excess of 45 degrees; the ESP progressively nudges you back to 30 degrees. Go beyond 45 degrees, and the force increases to encourage you to reduce your bank. The same activation occurs when exceeding pitch angles or speed envelopes. Exceed these envelope limits for more than 10 seconds within a 20-second timeframe, and the autopilot engages. Of course, if you are intentionally outside of the normal envelope, you can either disable the system or temporarily interrupt it, the latter useful when practicing steep turns.

ESP is cool; many of us have seen it operate in single-engine aircraft. What does it do when you lose an engine in the King Air? It helps considerably. Aaron had me reduce one throttle to idle to simulate a failed engine. The One Engine Inoperative (OEI) function within ESP offers unique capabilities to assist the pilot with engine failures. OEI-ESP, as Garmin has named it, can be selectively enabled by the pilot. However, it makes sense to keep it enabled in most situations to offer automatic assistance. It is activated by the King Air rudder boost, supplementing the capabilities. It reduces the normal ESP envelope parameters; the bank limit is now 10 degrees, and pitch limits are decreased to 10 degrees up / 5 degrees down. The low-speed limit is now 15 knots above Vmc. If the pilot is slow to recover the plane to level flight, in a short period of non-compliance, the autopilot automatically activates to level the aircraft.

Too many lives have been lost to pilots improperly responding to engine failures, including some of my friends. Many instances were survivable. OEI-ESP is another feature that could dramatically improve safety in these situations.

Emergency Descent Mode (EDM) is optional with G1000 NXi but included with Autothrottle and Emergency Autoland. EDM is armed when the autopilot is engaged and the aircraft is above 20,000 feet. It is activated when the cabin pressure is above 12,500 – prime conditions for hypoxia. When triggered, the AP changes to heading (HDG) mode and turns left 90 degrees. In aircraft equipped with the autothrottle option, Flight Level Change (FLC) mode speed is set to 10 knots below Vmo/Mmo, and power is adjusted. The pilot will adjust power at a level-off of 15,000 feet, or the autothrottle will maintain airspeed. If this wasn’t cool enough, if the system doesn’t record any pilot interaction within one minute, the Emergency Autoland will activate if equipped.

In February 2007, a King Air B200, like the one we were flying, had a cracked windshield at FL270, later traced to a manufacturing defect. The crew depressurized the aircraft; however, they had turned off the oxygen before flight. After fumbling for a minute, they passed out. The King Air descended without their input until 7,800 MSL, when they regained consciousness and fortunately landed, but the plane was totaled. As pilots, we hope to avoid this situation and follow proper procedures. However, they are not alone. In the 12 years preceding this accident, 160 King Air windshields fractured; several crews did not follow procedures. In many other cases of hypoxia, airplane occupants weren’t so lucky. This system alone could save lives.

It was time to see how all these components work together with the Garmin Emergency Autoland (EAL) system. We notified ATC we were heading back to Appleton and activating the emergency landing capability. The system can be manually activated or automatically engaged if the pilot is unresponsive after specific time periods or either ESP or EDM activation.

I pushed the magic button – Emergency Autoland—and the autopilot activated in level (LVL) mode. I was notified with a CAS message that EAL would activate in 15 seconds. I kept my arms folded. A video appeared on the MFD informing the passengers that EAL was activated.

The system continues to display messages, notifying the passengers of the process, including time to landing and endurance. One of the following decisions made by the system is selecting the optimal airport and runway. Airport selection is based upon several factors, including RNAV approach, hard surface, minimum runway length of 4,000 feet, and a 100-foot-wide runway if possible. EAL may evaluate other factors for selection, including airspace, runway alignment with the approach,

weather (IMC, VMC, gusts, precipitation), towered airports, military or Class B airports, and available fuel. Each factor has a particular score, or weight, that varies with the desired condition. After the software has made the runway selection based upon a merit-weighting of all the parameters, the next step is to develop a route to that airport.

Routing is based on endurance, terrain, weather avoidance, and obstacles. It utilizes current weather to avoid hazardous conditions (hail, severe weather, etc.) and a predictive mode to determine if the weather might move and interfere with the calculated flight path. If the weather changes after passing a waypoint, it adapts and modifies the route as needed. If icing is predicted, the anti-ice and deice systems are activated. If the present altitude is too high or the speed too fast, it will add a holding pattern to descend appropriately for a reasonable descent to the FAF. It can even decide either a left or right pattern for terrain. If the MAP is not at the runway threshold, the system will calculate a pseudo-MAP at the runway threshold. There is no missed approach procedure; the system doesn’t need a specific ceiling height or visibility – it isn’t looking outside for those elements.

Our flight plan was replaced with appropriate routing back to the FAF for the RNAV runway 20 approach, automatically inserting waypoints. In test mode, I could see all of the changes taking place. Watching your FMS reprogram itself to a new routing while you sit idle is eerie. Perhaps this is one reason Garmin names the combination of ESP and Autoland – Autonomi.
ATC, Tower, emergency, and CTAF frequencies are automatically tuned as needed, and the emergency status and flight progress are transmitted. Since this is an emergency, it activates 7700 on the transponder and simultaneously transmits on 121.5.

In addition to its automatic frequency selection and transmission, the EAL will inform the passengers through the MFD messages, intercom and speakers about the process and the next steps – including preparing to land. Within 12 miles of the destination, it tunes COM1 to either Tower or UNICOM/CTAF and transmits a message. All messages include the registration, position, and status of the flight. If you have the Iridium satellite transceiver, it also sends a text with the information.

I kept my arms folded, and while I knew that Aaron and his colleagues had performed this same action frequently in the Garmin test bed, it was a bit strange to watch.

We were now on final at Appleton (KATW) using the RNAV RWY 20 LPV approach. As we approached the FAF, the gear and flaps were up. The flaps were lowered to full deflection at the FAF, and the landing gear was extended. Our landing lights had already been activated with the initial steps of EAL. As with earlier messages, the system notified everyone of the time to landing, counting down.

We had a slight crosswind from the left, enough to require a crab. Flying at Vref on short final, then right above the threshold, a slight flare at 50 feet AGL, power to idle, left wing down a little for the wind. I mentioned to others the plane was left of the centerline. The system must have heard me and wanted to rise to the challenge. A few feet above the asphalt, the aircraft made a slight correction to the right to be on the centerline, brakes were applied, and we came to a full stop. Ten minutes after I pushed the Garmin Emergency Autoland activation button on the center console, we had stopped safely on the runway.

I turned to Aaron and told him I was disappointed. He was puzzled; I asked him why it didn’t taxi to the FBO by itself and perhaps call an Uber for us.

If we had not been in demonstration mode, the automation would have shut down the PT6 engines and displayed an evacuation video for the occupants. Since this was an active runway, and during EAA AirVenture, no less, the power stayed idle with the brakes applied. I finally had control of the airplane, released the brakes, and taxied to the ramp.

The Garmin Emergency Autoland is a breakthrough. I’ve written about the system previously and flown aircraft with the functionality. My first experience with Autoland was in a Continental DC-10 simulator, which was impressive in its day. The fully autonomous nature of this new Garmin system is the most intriguing part. With broader commercial autonomous flight on the horizon, systems such as this will only improve. I can think of myriad ways their technology could assist pilots and enhance safety.

If you want to upgrade your King Air G1000 NXi, you will need the latest hardware with at least version 7.3 and the RA5500 radar altimeter. The Garmin Autothrottle may be purchased without Autoland, with a hardware cost of $45,000. Adding in Autoland will cost an additional $33,000, and we anticipate at least 200-300 hours of labor for the complete installation at a Garmin dealer. The STC’s approved King Air model list is constantly updated and available through Garmin Aviation or its dealers.

Appleton Tower complimented us on the smooth landing. Usually, I would take credit. However, I was just a passenger. I still need clarification on how to log the time in my logbook. Was I really PIC after activation?