8 March 2022
Garmin is pursuing a Supplemental Type Certification (STC) to install its GI 275 electronic flight instrument in VFR helicopters.
The STC is expected to be granted by the FAA this month (March).
The GI 275 is an avionics upgrade that is a direct replacement for a variety of legacy primary flight instruments in the cockpit, including the primary attitude indicator, course deviation indicator (CDI), horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or the multi-function display (MFD).
Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing, said, “The GI 275 electronic flight instrument can provide helicopter owners and operators an impressive amount of information in a lightweight and compact design that’s easy to incorporate into a variety of panels. It’s an economical and scalable approach to upgrade your avionics, and we look forward to making this versatile touchscreen flight display available on even more rotorcraft soon.”
Above: Garmin’s GI 275 setup as a Primary Flight Display. Top: Helicopter instrument panel fitted with various GI 275s. Photos: Garmin
The GI 275 is designed to fit the common 3.125-inch flight instrument hole, reducing installation time and preserving the existing instrument panel.
Helicopters targetted by the STC include Bell 206 (206B, 206L, 206L-1, 206L-3, 206L-4), as an attitude indicator, CDI, HSI or MFD. Additional approvals for the Eurocopter AS350 series as well as select Robinson Helicopter models are expected in the second half of 2022.
