Piper Aircraft’s PiperJet will be a launch customer for the new Garmin G3000 – the world’s first touchscreen-controlled integrated flightdeck for turbine aircraft.
The G3000 integrates numerous Garmin-designed system components into an easy-to-use flightdeck, the heart of which is the all new GTC 570 vehicle management system: a 5.7-inch diagonal touchscreen controller that uses a desktop-like menu interface with intuitive icons, according to Piper officials. The console-mounted GTC 570 allows full control of radios, audio management, flight management, weather systems management, synoptics (graphical systems displays) and other key vehicle systems.
The PiperJet team emphasized that the G3000’s focus on being intuitive is key to melding with the PiperJet’s focus on avoiding needless complexity and enhancing user-friendliness. By eliminating buttons, switches, and extraneous knobs, the touchscreen G3000 relies on common sense functions that have been the mainstay of cutting-edge smart-screen technology in consumer electronics, Piper officials said, noting the G3000 lets pilots quickly retrace their steps or alternatively return to the home screen.
“PiperJet pilots will have the ability to reach out and touch real-time information,” said John Becker, Piper’s president. “Gone will be the days of looking for cursors and cryptic confusing menus that lead to heavy pilot workloads.”
The G3000 is versatile, he noted, with the GTC 570’s incorporation of three conventional knobs at the bottom of the display: a volume control knob, dedicated map joystick and dual concentric knobs for data entry. Pilots are consequently able to use the knobs in addition to the touchscreen to enter information, and the knobs’ functions are always labeled on the display.
The primary flight displays (PFD) and multi-function display (MFD) are large, high-resolution, wide-aspect ratio displays. The landscape oriented displays make it possible to have an enhanced view of Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) that displays three dimensional terrain, obstacles, pathways, and traffic. Situational awareness is enhanced further with a large inset map and an extended horizon line.
The G3000’s large MFD also has split-screen capability so that two separate vertical pages may be viewed side-by-side. Pilots may simultaneously view maps, charts, TAWS, flight planning, weather or video input pages. In addition, aircraft synoptics can be graphically depicted on the MFD to help simplify monitoring and speed troubleshooting.
The PiperJet proof-of-concept aircraft continues to advance through various stages of flight testing, company officials said. To date the aircraft has logged more than 230 hours of flight time and 160 flights.
Configured to be flown by a single pilot, the PiperJet is capable of reaching a cruising speed of 360 knots and a maximum operating altitude of 35,000 feet. The six passenger PiperJet – with an option for either a seventh seat or enclosable lavatory – has a range of 1,300 nautical miles and a full-fuel payload of 800 lbs.
For more information: Piper.com
