Dassault aircraft covered by the certification include:

• Falcon 7X/Falcon 8X, FAA, and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validated
• Falcon 900EX EASy, FAA validated
• Falcon 2000EX EASy, FAA, and EASA validated

The GI 275 is Garmin’s most pixel-dense display to date and includes an intuitive touchscreen with synthetic vision and terrain overlay mirroring the EASy II Primary Display Unit (PDU).

• READ MORE: Avionics Upgrades Go a Long Way

According to Dassault, the GI 275 “seamlessly integrates” with existing aircraft systems, offering the same functionality as the previous stand-by system. 

“The EASy flight deck is designed to meet state-of-the-art redundancy requirement, however, for added safety they always have been complimented by a stand-by instrument of different architecture, hardware, power and sensor sources,” a Dassault spokesperson told FLYING.

The addition of a second GI 275 on the copilot’s side allows the pilot’s instrument to remain the dedicated stand-by for certification. The copilot’s GI 275 can be configured with additional pages to mirror the pilot’s flight display, including the feature of an HSI with a moving map that can be easily panned or zoomed and automatically accessing the active flight plan.

The unit features the SafeTaxi database that improves pilot situational awareness by displaying current airport diagrams in a “nose-up” orientation. The GI 275 also enables pilots to select airports and other points of interest to view airspace, frequencies, and airport hot spots.

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Garmin GI 275/Dassault Falcon 7X

Garmin’s GI 275 can now replace the original secondary flight display in the Falcon 7X and be configured to serve as an attitude-direction indicator with synthetic vision technology. When Garmin introduced the GI 275 in January 2020, it seemed the powerful little round dial with all of Garmin’s software stuffed inside was positioned to corner the general aviation avionics market. If you’ve seen or used it, you know it.

The 3.125-inch, panel-mount digital gauge can do the work of four separate analog instruments, with pilots having the option to choose the configuration they want. So, with the ability to display primary flight and engine information, matched with FAA approval for installation in more than 1,000 single-engine and multiengine business and general aircraft models, owners could give their panels a facelift and keep some of those old birds flying a little bit longer.

In the case of the Falcon 7X, Garmin said 300 aircraft across the global Falcon fleet were eligible to add the GI 275. Either way, this recent addition shows just how capable the instrument is, if it can serve both weekend warriors doing breakfast runs in, say, a 1983 Piper Turbo Arrow IV—as I’ve seen—to now Falcon jet drivers, possibly taking the boss into Teterboro for a critical meeting.

Is that a coincidence? Not really. Jim Alpiser, who leads the aftermarket sales team for Garmin’s aviation segment, shared with FLYING that Garmin has in mind all the use cases, from big airplanes to small, when it designs and rolls out versatile products like the GI 275. “The person installing it in a Bonanza or a Mooney should feel amazing because that same technology is also inside a Falcon aircraft now,” he said.

It doesn’t mean some larger screen products, such as the G1000, will lose their place in the market. Instead, Alpiser uses the analogy of the suite of Apple products that share similar basic capabilities regardless of screen sizes. In this case, it’s more about what’s visually appealing to the pilots, and, like the Falcon 7X application, it could even augment the larger displays.

Garmin G5000/Cessna Citation Excel

In addition to the announcement on the GI 275, Garmin also said it was working with European regulators to gain permission for EASA-certificated operators to install the G5000 integrated avionics suite on the Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS. Since Garmin launched the Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS G5000 modernization program three years ago, more than 100 Excel and XLS aircraft have added the avionics package, and now European operators will benefit once the integration is approved. The three landscape-oriented displays give pilots added situational awareness and additional capabilities.

Finally, Piper Aircraft, which also exhibited at the conference, shared an update to say that the touchscreen Garmin G3000 and the software innovation for that avionics suite featured in Piper’s flagship M600/SLS was a big boost for safety. Some of the latest G3000 upgrades in the M600/SLS include enhancements to the synthetic vision system, weather radar, navigation, flight planning, checklists, and SafeTaxi. Though the G3000 isn’t available commercially for retrofits, Piper’s confirmation is a testament to the role of advanced avionics in improving both the lifetime and ease of operation for these airplanes.

Even the new HondaJet Elite II, which the OEM announced that same week, boasted the updated G3000 would be equipped with autothrottles. To that end, the new model would have Garmin’s emergency system, Autoland, as a standard feature when it ships. 

It speaks to the bigger trend at play. When the Aircraft Electronics Association shared its six-month Avionics Market Report in August, it said owners and operators spent more than $615 million on retrofits, including flight deck upgrades and other electronics, antennas, and so forth. That represented more than 45 percent of all the avionic sales it recorded, compiled with data from more than 1,300 member companies.

That means aircraft owners and operators are finding new ways to stretch the lifetime of their aircraft by tapping into these avionics upgrades. That’s easier to do than airframe or powerplant upgrades, since those technologies progress much slower and suffer from more restrictions.

As Alpiser explained, “avionics upgrade technology has accelerated over the recent decades. In regards to the GI 275, it embodies that spirit because it packs many capabilities into a smaller space.”

Moreover, pilots now have an added layer of safety that comes from the reduced workload Alpiser says these upgrades offer. “Adding safety to the cockpit is a huge driver of upgrades and modernization. Adding safety-enhancing technology, like synthetic vision or additional data fields, can help make you a better pilot.”

Atlas, From Avidyne

Other legacy jet platforms are also being rejuvenated through avionic offerings from Avidyne. During NBAA-BACE, Avidyne shared that Learjet 55C owners and operators could now add Avidyne’s dual Atlas flight management system retrofit upgrade. The upgrade provides them with fully-coupled GPS approach capabilities, including LPV, LP, LNAV/VNAV, and LNAV-only, while not needing to make expensive EFIS86-L system replacements.

So, not only does it extend the useful life of these time-tested jets, but for operators, their world just got bigger.

“A lot of these airplanes are perfectly good airplanes,” Tom Harper, Avidyne’s marketing director ,tells FLYING. “With LPV, you’re opening up so many more runways, since that’ll allow you to get into airports that don’t have an ILS. Or, in some cases, they only have an ILS on one runway, and the winds aren’t favorable. So, the upgrade just gives you more options to complete the mission.”

In terms of use, each Atlas flight management system boasts a QWERTY-style keyboard with touchscreen capabilities so pilots can flight plan and view maps to their liking. They are also equipped with integrated wireless connectivity that links them to iPads to complement third-party flight planning apps.

Regarding the layout, Harper said the Learjet upgrade requires reconfiguring the center pedestal to make a more pilot-friendly interface by bringing EFIS mode select controls and FMS units forward.

Harper added that the upgrade to the Lear 55C is just an indication of things to come. Avidyne will look to breathe new life into other “old birds,” including others in the Learjet family, Dassault Falcons, Cessna Citations, Beechcraft King Airs, the IAI Westwind, and the Piaggio P.180 Avanti.

This article was originally published in the December 2022/January 2023 Issue 933 of FLYING.

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FLYING’s Innovation Award

National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)

For the association’s ability to guide a broad range of constituents to deliver and use a game-changing way to power our aircraft, we present this year’s Innovation Award to NBAA in acknowledgment of its efforts to lead the industry both vocally and behind the scenes in the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

NBAA has joined with other associations (such as IBAC, GAMA, and NATA), and aircraft manufacturers, such as Embraer, Gulfstream, Textron Aviation, Daher, and many others, to make SAF—made by producers like Gevo and Neste, and distributed by AvFuel, World Fuel Services, and others serving FBOs around the world—a viable and timely fuel for the GA marketplace.

Readers’ Choice Award

NASA Ingenuity

To execute a first flight of a new aircraft marks a significant milestone for any organization. But to achieve a first flight of a tiny rotorcraft on a distant planet—and have it go far beyond its original mission—that’s what set NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team apart in 2021.

Our audience agreed with the National Aeronautic Association, which bestowed upon those responsible for its design, development, and execution the Robert J. Collier Trophy, awarded annually for the “greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.” And at FLYING, we too watched in high anticipation on April 19, 2021, as the diminutive craft—just 19.3 inches tall—lifted off the dusty surface on what would become the first of its 29 missions… and counting.

Editors’ Choice Awards

Best New Aircraft

Cessna SkyCourier

A clean-sheet design created through a collaborative effort between Textron Aviation and launch customer FedEx Express, the Cessna SkyCourier represents one of the few aircraft to cross the FAA type certification finish line in 2021 and early 2022. But it’s certainly big enough to carry the honor well, as the company made its first deliveries this spring and through the summer of 2022. 

Powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65SC engines driving four-blade McCauley aluminum props, the Cessna Model 408 comes in two standard configurations. In its freighter role, it can carry a payload of 6,000 pounds, and take off in a distance as short as 2,700 feet. In the passenger layout, up to 19 people can ride along to a range of 920 nm and at a max cruise speed of 210 ktas.

Best New Avionics

Garmin GI 275

When Garmin passed the milestone this summer of 25,000 integrated flight decks installed, the company had not been riding merely on the wave of its success in revolutionizing the instrument panels of GA aircraft. Its next grace note is a small, unassuming replacement instrument first introduced in 2020 that appears to be on its way to becoming as ubiquitous as the G1000 series avionics suite.

The GI 275 slides neatly into the round dial cutout left when a traditional analog instrument is removed from the instrument panel—and what it does from there is left up to the pilot’s desires. As a backup electronic flight instrument, it can take the place of an attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, and altimeter with its primary flight display function. Or it can segue into a multifunction display, with traffic, weather, and engine information system options, depending on the airplane.

Best New Gear

Flight Outfitters

A bag for every pilot—created by pilots and tested thoroughly by FLYING staff throughout the past three years. That’s what Flight Outfitters has developed over its lifetime, and we’ve found their flight bags, backpacks, duffels, luggage, and kneeboards to be some of the most durable and well thought-out designs on the market.

The brand encompasses an entire aviator’s lifestyle, but this is serious equipment that doesn’t just look good. With the tagline “Pilot Your Own Adventure,” the folks behind the company practice what they preach…which is likely why their products have hit the mark so solidly for pilots of all stripes.

Best New Training Innovation

Pipistrel Velis Electro

With so many great ways to train—and many tried-and-true airplanes in which to learn to fly—it takes a big disruptor to truly bring us a new way to fly through the standard syllabus. Enter Pipistrel’s Velis Electro. Now type certificated under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Velis Electro takes the tested Virus single—powered by a Rotax 912—and electrifies it with two battery packs onboard for an endurance of around 45 minutes, plus VFR reserves. 

While not yet enough to complete a full private pilot course without supplementing with traditionally powered aircraft, the Velis Electro can seriously drive down the cost and environmental footprint of initial training—when charged using a renewable energy source. With aircraft in testing at a handful of flight schools and universities in the U.S., it’s only a matter of time before the Velis Electro goes all the way. 

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