GARMIN GI 275/DASSAULT FALCON 7X
Garmin's GI 275 can now replace the original seco- nary flight display in the Falcon 7X and be configured to serve as an attitude-direction indicator with synthetic vision technology. When Garmin introduced the GI 275 in January 2020, it seemed the powerful little round dial with all of Garmin’s software stuffed inside was posi- tioned to corner the general aviation avionics market. If you’ve seen or used it, you know it. The 3.125-inch, panel-mount digital gauge can do the work of four separate analog instruments, with pi- lots having the option to choose the configuration they want. So, with the ability to display primary flight and engine information, matched with FAA approval for in- stallation in more than 1,000 single-engine and multien- gine business and general aircraft models, owners could give their panels a facelift and keep some of those old birds flying a little bit longer. In the case of the Falcon 7X, Garmin said 300 air- craft across the global Falcon fleet were eligible to add the GI 275. Either way, this recent addition shows just
how capable the instrument is, if it can serve both week- end warriors doing breakfast runs in, say, a 1983 Piper Turbo Arrow IV—as I’ve seen—to now Falcon jet driv- ers, possibly taking the boss into Teterboro for a critical meeting. Is that a coincidence? Not really. Jim Alpiser, who leads the aftermarket sales team for Garmin’s aviation segment, shared with FLYING that Garmin has in mind all the use cases, from big airplanes to small, when it designs and rolls out versatile products like the GI 275. “The person installing it in a Bonanza or a Mooney should feel amazing because that same technology is also inside a Falcon aircraft now,” he said. It doesn’t mean some larger screen products, such as the G1000, will lose their place in the market. Instead, Alpiser uses the analogy of the suite of Apple products that share similar basic capabilities regardless of screen sizes. In this case, it’s more about what’s visually appeal- ing to the pilots, and, like the Falcon 7X application, it could even augment the larger displays.
The placement of the GI 275 in the Dassault Falcon 7X marks the instrument’s first entry into jets.
39
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs