Garmin's aviation team continues to roll out autopilot approvals for a variety of aircraft for the GFC 500 and GFC 600 autopilots. Several popular aircraft such as the Bonanza B36TC, Cessna T210, Cessna 421C and Piper PA-46 are among the latest additions to a growing list of aircraft approvals, allowing these aircraft owners to experience the superior benefits of a modern Garmin autopilot.

In just three years, Garmin have completed 42 Supplemental Type Certifications (STC) on over 30 popular aircraft, spanning nearly 200 aircraft models between both autopilots, with more aircraft approvals in progress and many more to follow. Each aircraft undergoes a comprehensive flight test program at their flight operations facility, which includes flight testing at a variety of aircraft weight and center of gravity (CG) limits, as well as a full range of altitude and airspeed tests. In addition to standard autopilot functions, features such as underspeed and overspeed protection, Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP™), vertical navigation and take-off and go-around modes are also thoroughly evaluated for each individual aircraft. These complex and rigorous certification processes demonstrate their commitment to bringing highly capable, state-of-the-art autopilots to their customers.

“As Garmin increasingly expands its portfolio of aircraft approvals, demand for the GFC 500 and GFC 600 continues to achieve significant growth,” said Carl Wolf, vice president of aviation sales and marketing at Garmin. “We are humbled by the popularity of these game-changing autopilots as they have redefined the standard of what aircraft owners should expect from an autopilot and based on the overwhelming demand – our customers agree.”

New aircraft models approved for the GFC 500 autopilot include:

• Beechcraft Bonanza
  • Models: B36TC, N35, P35
• Cessna T210
  • Models: 210G, 210H, 210J, T210G, T210H, T210J

New aircraft models approved for the GFC 600 autopilot include:

• Cessna 421
  • Models: 421C
• Piper PA-46
  • Models: 310P, 350P

The full-featured GFC 500 and GFC 600 autopilots provide thousands of existing general aviation aircraft with a simple, light-weight, cost-effective autopilot upgrade path. The GFC 500 and GFC 600 incorporate a solid state attitude source with robust self-monitoring capabilities to provide superior autopilot performance, greater reliability and safety benefits that are similar to the popular Garmin GFC 700 autopilot used in their integrated flight decks. In addition to traditional autopilot capabilities such as altitude hold, vertical speed and heading modes, the GFC 500 and GFC 600 also include altitude preselect, VNAV¹, Level Mode, underspeed and overspeed protection and more. Pilots can also select, couple to and fly various instrument approaches, including GPS, ILS, VOR, LOC and back course approaches when paired with a compatible GPS navigator.