FAA STC approval for Garmin's GI 275 electronic flight instrument in Part 27 helicopters is imminent, the avionics manufacturer said this week at Heli-Expo. The GI 275 uses a common 3.125-inch flight instrument size, allowing convenient installation while preserving existing instrument panels. When installed as a primary attitude indicator, the instrument offers improved reliability, potential weight savings, and reduced maintenance compared to vacuum-driven attitude indicators.
“The GI 275 electronic flight instrument can provide helicopter owners and operators an impressive amount of information in a lightweight and compact design that’s easy to incorporate into a variety of panels,” said Carl Wolf, v-p of aviation sales and marketing for Garmin. “It’s an economical and scalable approach to upgrade your avionics, and we look forward to making this versatile touchscreen flight display available on even more rotorcraft soon.”
Optional helicopter synthetic vision technology overlays a 3D topographic view of terrain, traffic, obstacles, powerlines, airport signposts, and more within the display. The instrument also can display outside air temperature, groundspeed, true airspeed, and wind information. It can share GPS position and backup attitude information to the Garmin Pilot mobile application.
Garmin plans to soon make the GI 275 available for installation on some FAA-registered Part 27 helicopters, including the Bell 206. Additional approvals for the Airbus AS350 series and Robinson models are expected later this year.
