The Future Has Arrived

Ever since the G1000 hit the streets, I knew this was only a couple of steps away. About this time last year I was telling a friend that they would see this before summer 2008. The big deal is that it is an STC’d software update, not a hardware one.

I have always been a big fan of Garmin, but this shows why. Way to go big G!

This doesn’t mean we, as pilots, can get lazy, it does mean we can be more efficient. My hope is that advances like this make us safer in the skies. My fear, is that pilots will become complacent. This is an amazing tool. But it is only that, a tool, not a replacement for common sense, training and skill.

If you go out and by an aircraft with a G1000, LEARN the equipment, learn it well, and use it as a tool for safety and skill.

The following is copied from Flying Magazine’s e-newsletter.

Garmin’s Shocker: Synthetic Vision Has Arrived

The FAA has granted supplemental type certification for Garmin’s three-dimensional Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT). The system displays high-resolution, 3D graphic depictions of terrain, runways, obstacles and even traffic on the primary flight display (PFD). The graphics replace Garmin’s previous blue-over-brown PFD depiction. The user-customizable system also incorporates highway-in-the-sky guidance with rectangular boxes depicted on the PFD, and a flight path marker-which clearly indicates where the aircraft’s flight path is taking it. Garmin said SVT should be available in July for aircraft equipped with its G1000 and G900X (experimental only) systems, and G1000-retrofitted King Air C90s some time next year. No hardware changes are needed for the SVT upgrade, but the software changeover will have to be made at a Garmin dealer.

~FBJ