Garmin International Inc. announced at Airventure that it is developing a new stability augmentation system called Garmin’s Electronic Stability and Protection (Garmin ESP) for G1000 and G3000 flight decks. ESP works to assist the pilot in maintaining a safe, flight stable condition, helping in certain situations to prevent the onset of stalls and spins, steep spirals or other loss-of-control conditions should the pilot become distracted, disoriented or incapacitated during flight, company officials said.
Garmin ESP functions independently of the autopilot, and operates “in the background” whenever the pilot is hand-flying the aircraft. Garmin ESP gently nudges the controls back towards stable flight whenever pitch, roll or high-speed deviations exceed recommended limits, Garmin officials said, noting ESP will disengage when the aircraft returns to normal flight.
High and low airspeed protection will also be available with Garmin ESP while pilots are hand-flying. If a Garmin ESP-equipped aircraft approaches the aircraft’s speed limits (VMO or VNE), Garmin ESP engages and applies force to the control yoke to increase the pitch attitude and prevent a further increase in airspeed. Garmin ESP also has built-in parameters to prevent the aircraft from exceeding G-limit load factors upon pullout. In high performance aircraft with angle of attack/lift sensors, Garmin ESP offers low airspeed or stall protection that reduces the probability of stalling the aircraft by providing a gentle pitch-down control force through the control yoke when the aircraft’s wing approaches its critical angle of attack, officials said.
The retrofit G1000-equipped King Air 200 will be the first aircraft to receive Garmin ESP later this year. It will be available at an expected list price of $17,995.
For more information: Garmin.com
