GA Avionics: Is the Best Yet to Come?

The world of avionics can be confusing, as it thrives on abbreviations and acronyms like no other area of aviation: GPS, COM, NAV and XPDR are familiar to most pilots, but when it comes to ADS-B, EGPWS, AHRS, CVR, FANS and ECU, the air already gets thinner. 

Nevertheless, avionics is an exciting area of aviation because nowhere else is there such a high pace of innovation with new devices and sensors that improve safety, make flying easier, increase efficiency and assist pilots in their tasks. 

Thanks to integrated avionics and large displays, the all-too-familiar mechanical instruments and monochrome displays from ancient times are disappearing at an increasing pace from the cockpits of general aviation aircraft. Garmin and Avidyne triggered this digital revolution in cockpits at the turn of the millennium with their G1000 and Entegra avionics suites, respectively. 

However, aircraft are very durable products compared to personal electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops, which means that avionics manufacturers cannot keep up with every technological leap in electronic components. Instead, they must introduce modernisation in blocks, as Garmin has done, for example, with the introduction of the latest generation of the G1000, the G1000 NXi.

Obsolescence of existing equipment and the associated problem of missing spare parts is not a new issue in avionics. NASA’s Space Shuttles flew with avionics using Intel i486 chips, which became completely obsolete during the last 15 years of the Space Shuttle era. Redesigning them would have been too expensive, so NASA sought old computers from which to harvest the coveted chips as spare parts for their Space Shuttles.

Do I have to upgrade?

Not all pilots and aircraft owners want to part with their cherished instrument panels. They prefer round instruments. That’s why Garmin surprised the general aviation community with the GI 275, a digital instrument designed to circumvent the ‘glass cockpit or round instruments?’ question. The GI 275 is designed for the 3.125-inch panel cutouts and can be swapped out for the instruments installed there. It is a 4-in-1 instrument, meaning it replaces up to four instruments — such as the Attitude Indicator (AI/artificial horizon), the Course Deviation Indicator (CDI), the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI), and the Engine Indication System (EIS). 

In addition to the classic functionalities familiar from the individual circular instruments, the multi-instrument also offers additional display functions, such as weather, terrain, synthetic vision, and ‘SafeTaxi’ aerodrome charts. Thanks to the integrated WLAN interface, updates to the instrument’s databases can easily be made via Database Concierge. 

Growing Connectivity

Connectivity of aircraft — including general aviation aircraft — continues to grow as pilots and passengers want to be constantly online, including when in the air. The ‘Connected Aircraft’, on which all major manufacturers such as Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, and Garmin are working, is a convenience for occupants, but it can above all make an aircraft’s operation more efficient, as data can be exchanged online with a maintenance centre or an operations centre. Safety also improves significantly when weather data is available in real-time and shown on the display for pilots.

Connectivity of an aircraft also involves integrating flight planning and navigation software such as that offered by SkyDemon or ForeFlight. Pilots do their flight planning on their own tablets and send their flight plans online to air traffic control. 

Get Me Home!

Avionics progress makes aircraft more autonomous, too, and enhances safety if a pilot is incapacitated. In October 2019 Garmin unveiled its Autoland system, a revolutionary feature for general aviation aircraft focused on improving safety. In an emergency, the system can fly an aircraft to the nearest suitable airfield without human intervention, where it can automatically land, taxi, and shut down the engine. It takes into account factors such as wind, weather, terrain, obstacles, the amount of fuel remaining on board, and the aircraft’s performance parameters. Factors for selecting a suitable airfield include the availability of a GPS approach procedure and runway length. To activate Autoland in an emergency, a human on board must press the appropriate Autoland button. However, the system can also activate itself if necessary. 

The system was first certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in May 2020 aboard the Piper M600 single-engine turboprop aircraft, followed by the Daher TBM 940 turboprop single, and the Cirrus SF50 Vision single-engine personal jet. 

In 2020, the Garmin Autoland system won the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy, awarded annually for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year. 

Get Updates at AERO 

Avionics development is not stopping, and visitors of AERO in Friedrichshafen in April will be able to see this for themselves as manufacturers present their latest innovations. The next steps in avionics development for general and business aviation are even more integrated cockpits with touchscreen displays, even higher resolution displays, and enhanced connectivity. 

Avionics will also become even smarter, presenting pilots with tailored information in the future depending on the current flight situation. The next big step after that, however, will see the elimination of classic instruments and displays. Data goggles or other visual systems on which the data required for flights can be seen still even more easily sound like science fiction today, but they will become everyday reality for future generations of pilots. The best is yet to come! 

As we mentioned acronyms and abbreviations, here are the ‘decodes’ for the most common ones encountered by pilots: 

GPS: Global Positioning System 

COM: Communication (Equipment) 

NAV: Navigation (Equipment) 

XPDR: Transponder 

ADS-B: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast 

EGPWS: Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System 

AHRS: Attitude and Heading Reference System 

CVR: Cockpit Voice Recorder 

FANS: Future Air Navigation Systems 

ECU: Environmental Control Unit