AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2019 - 93

for chicken Marsala on there at one point
in our flight.
To the right is a 7-inch display with the
same capabilities. Both include AHRS, making for an easy backup should one fail. Further
backing it up is the G5, to the left of the big
display, with its own AHRS and four-hour
back-up battery. Yes, a 40-plus-year-old
single-engine piston airplane with triple
redundant AHRS. Further enhancing safety
is the non-TSOed GFC 500 digital autopilot.
The AHRS in any of the displays can drive the
autopilot, as demonstrated by Jessica Koss,
Garmin's aviation media relations specialist
and a CFII. While I flew she first failed the
large display. She then re-engaged the autopilot and all was well. Then she failed the 7-inch
display. The touch of a button brought the
autopilot back online, driven by the G5.
Under such an architecture, if you end
up in a situation where you have to handfly during an emergency, you're having a
very bad day.
On the G3X Touch display, a touch of any
field brings up a large window in which you
enter information. Touch the Altitude display

window, for example, and you can easily
enter an altitude for the autopilot to climb or
descend to. If you're a knob person, there are
concentric knobs for that, too. The autopilot
comes with complete envelope protection
and Garmin's ESP-Electronic Stability and
Protection, which attempts to keep the airplane safely near the middle of the flight
envelope, even when the autopilot is off.
While the user interface will be familiar
to anyone who has flown other Garmin products, the panel includes several features not
available in the company's higher end TSOed
boxes. Most notable is a subtle line of arrows
on the MFD continuously flowing toward the
nearest airport that is within gliding range. On
the bottom of the PFD a field provides the
identifier, distance, and direction to the nearest airport, even if outside of gliding range.
As with any other product line-TSOed
or non-TSOed-in order to fly instrument
approaches, the displays must be connected
to a TSOed navigator. In this case, the Tiger
has a GTN 650. But Garmin's new lower-cost
GPS 175 or GNX 375 would fit the bill as well.
The displays also interface with and control

a variety of Garmin nav/com radios, showing frequencies and station ID at the top of
the screens. The system also interfaces with
Garmin Connext, allowing wireless transfer
of GPS position, weather, traffic, flight plans,
and other data between the panel and a variety of apps on handheld devices.
List prices for the G3X start at $7,995
for the 7-inch display and $9,995 for a 10.6inch display; each includes the install kit,
GPS antenna, AHRS, and magnetometer.
However, if you buy the two together, the
price totals $14,865. A four-cylinder engine
system adds about $3,000 to the price.
Koss says the system is designed for use
in Class I airplanes-weighing 6,000 pounds
or less-and ones that include other panel
products in the "Garmin ecosystem." Those
with heavier airplanes or products from a
variety of manufacturers will need to consider the Garmin G500 TXi or G600 TXi
panels, which include many more input/
output options. The G500 TXi starts at
about $12,000.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2019

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