Garmin's Synthetic Vision System Heralds A New Age For GA!
ANN, as you read last month, was privileged to finally be able to talk about something we've known about for a while... real-live Synthetic Vision for GA. As amazing as the concept may be, the reality is even more so. Garmin got this right... and right from the start. During a flight in an SVT-equipped DA40-XL, Aero-TV flew checked out each of the now-certified features of the G1000's SVT capabilities -- Highway In The Sky, Obstacle Clearance, Terrain Avoidance, Traffic Alerts... you name it... and came away feeling like the state of the art in the general aviation industry has just been raised by an astounding degree.
And if you can wait about 24 hours, for the next Special Edition of Aero-TV, you'll see that they're not remotely done yet... but we can't say anymore about that... yet.
Garmin's Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT), is designed to fully integrate with the G1000... both present and past models. Garmin's SVT presents a 3D depiction of terrain, obstacles and traffic on the G1000's primary flight-display (PFD) so that the avionics panel replicates what pilots would see outside the cockpit on a clear day.
Garmin's SVT blends information about the aircraft's position with topographic databases to create and display real-time 3D images. The information is presented on the G1000's large flight displays with XGA (1,024x768-pixel) resolution, superior sunlight readability and wide viewing angles. SVT presents the necessary information in ways that are easy to understand so pilots feel at ease interpreting the information.
The foundation of SVT is the depiction of 3D terrain, which is displayed on the PFD(s). Land, water and sky are clearly differentiated with shading and textures that are similar to the topographical colors found on the multi-function display (MFD) moving map. SVT works seamlessly to alert pilots of potential ground hazards by displaying terrain and obstacles which pose a threat to the aircraft with appropriate TAWS alert coloring.
Those flying with a TAWS-B enabled (optional) G1000 avionics suite also have the benefit of receiving voice alerts. Terrain warnings are also depicted on the MFD with a traditional, color-coded "X" symbol. If the aircraft does not have TAWS-B enabled, reduced capability AC 23-26 compliant terrain alerting is included with SVT.
Pilots will also appreciate SVT's pathways, or Highway-In-The-Sky (HITS) guidance. Depicted as 3D "flying rectangles", pathway guidance symbols help pilots stay on course when flying en route legs, VNAV legs, GPS/WAAS vertical approach procedures, ILS approach procedures, and arrival and departure procedures. When on an ILS approach, pilots will take advantage of Garmin's patent-pending system whereby SVT relies on ILS signals to position the pathway. Therefore, when pilots fly through the SVT boxes on an ILS approach, they will automatically fly the precision glideslope. Pathways may be enabled or disabled via a PFD softkey.
SVT also brings MFD enhancements. At the nose of the MFD's aircraft graphic, pilots will see the field of view scan (45-degrees lateral scan) and flight path predictor that displays the aircraft's anticipated flight path.
SVT is expected to be available on G900X-equipped aircraft by July 2008, and on the G1000 King Air C90 retrofit in 2009. Integration of SVT into existing G1000 systems or yet-to-be-delivered G1000 equipped aircraft is being coordinated with each aircraft manufacturer.
Come Fly Along With Aero-TV As We Test Garmin's Amazing Synthetic Vision Technology
FMI: www.garmin.com/aviation
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