Garmin has unveiled new features and capabilities for the Garmin Pilot app, including support for the GDL 39 portable ADS-B receiver. When paired with a GDL 39, Garmin Pilot can display subscription-free weather and ADS-B datalink traffic information.
“Garmin Pilot now offers more valuable, safety-enhancing information than ever before,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “ADS-B weather and traffic, high-integrity GPS position information and capabilities like split-screen have all been integrated to provide the best picture of the pilot’s operational environment – from the time the flight plan is filed to the time the aircraft lands and everywhere in between.”
The GDL 39 combines a dual-link ADS-B receiver and a GPS receiver into a single product that wirelessly streams ADS-B traffic and weather information to the Garmin Pilot compatible mobile device via built-in Bluetooth connection. Subscription-free weather information is continuously broadcast using the FAA’s 978 MHz UAT uplink and is similar to the basic services offered by commercial satellite weather providers. Weather services include access to NEXRAD imagery, METARs, TAFs, winds and temperatures aloft, PIREPs, NOTAMs and more.
Pilots can also receive ADS-B traffic information and alerts to help identify potential traffic conflicts. In addition to the ability to receive traffic data from TIS-B ground stations, the dual-link GDL 39 offers direct air-to-air ADS-B reception on both ADS-B frequencies (1090 ES and 978 UAT) to provide a more comprehensive view of potential flight path conflicts, Garmin officials said.
Through this integration, Garmin Pilot is the first Garmin product available that supports the display of advanced traffic awareness features like TargetTrend relative motion technology. TargetTrend helps the pilot visualize the trend of the traffic threats as it relates to their aircraft to allow an instantaneous view of the traffic picture without any interpretation needed. This results in faster decision making and reduced pilot workload in dense traffic environments, officials noted.
The iOS version of the Garmin Pilot also now includes split-screen capability, which allows the pilot to split the display in half to view the moving map simultaneously with charts, SafeTaxi, the Panel Page, weather widgets or active navlog. With this feature, the pilot has access to more information at any given time without having to switch between displays.
Garmin Pilot for Android also has a number of new capabilities, including the ability to graphically edit flight plans on the moving map page and support for the Baron MobileLink for XM weather reception (sold separately, subscription required).
Garmin Pilot is available today in the App Store and Google Play as a free download for the first 30 days. After that, it is available for a limited-time price of $49.99 per year (regularly $99.99). Pilots can upgrade the standard FliteCharts to geo-referenced FliteCharts for an additional $49.99 annually, and geo-referenced SafeTaxi diagrams are available for an additional $29.99 annually.
For more information: Garmin.com
