Garmin Smart Glide Available for G3X Touch & G5 Certified

[Garmin Aviation Team]

Garmin received a tremendous response with the introduction of Smart Glide at AirVenture last year. Upon initial introduction, we received certification for the GTN Xi series, TXi flight displays and the GI 275 electronic flight instrument, making this tech available to thousands of existing customers overnight with a simple software update. Since then, we also completed the software for owners of experimental aircraft equipped with either G3X Touch or G5.

Today, we continue to increase eligibility with certification and availability of software v9.00 to support G3X Touch Certificated and software v8.00 for G5 for Certificated Aircraft when paired with the GTN Xi series navigators.

For those unaware of our Smart Glide tech, it helps offload critical tasks from the pilot upon an engine out event. A comprehensive review can be found in my earlier post here: https://www.piperforum.com/threads/...dates-part-1-–-smart-glide.22757/#post-369773.

YouTuber, Dan Watkins put together this excellent demo video with G500 TXi. Check it out here:

In addition to support for Smart Glide, the G3X Touch update includes some other valuable enhancements.

• G3X Touch equipped with EIS shares the fuel flow information with GTN and GTN Xi series navigators.
  • This input removes the requirement for the pilot to enter the fuel available and fuel flow rate upon startup on the GTN or GTN Xi series navigators.
  • The GTN displays fuel flow sensor-based calculations for fuel required to reach the destination, range, efficiency and more on the fuel planning page as well as a graphical display of the fuel range to fuel reserves and exhaustion on the moving map page.
  • This effectively aligns the display of fuel data on both G3X Touch and the GTN or GTN Xi series.
• The option to display fuel flow in pounds per hour (PPH)
• All primary engine gauges in the strip remain visible when the engine page is selected in the MFD.
• Both VNAV and approach modes can be armed simultaneously
• Support for diversity antenna GTX 345 series transponders
• Aircraft with 14-volt electrical systems and EIS previously were required to use the GAD 27 to stabilize the voltage while starting the engine. This updated installation approval removes this requirement if a TCW Integrated Backup Battery System (IBBS) is installed.
• An updated IGRF Magnetic Field Model is included to provide the most accurate heading information and resolve the ‘AHRS IGRF data out of date’ system message.
• For G3X Touch systems with a GTN Xi navigator, the TOD and BOD display on the G3X Touch moving map
• A new fuel tank reminder option provides the ability to use fuel quantity, as opposed to time
• For systems with a GAP 26 AOA pitot installed for display of AOA, a new option allows for quickly muting the alerts with a touch of the AOA field on the PFD.
• Some newer ADS-B weather products from the GTX 345 series transponders, were limited to display using only the Bluetooth wireless interface. Now, all weather products from the GTX 345 series transponders (with software v2.60) are served with the wired (RS 232 Connext) interface. For those receiving these ADS-B weather products via the GDL 52 series or GNX 375, the team is working on a required software update for the GDL to make this available.

The team continues to work on updated software to bring Smart Glide compatibility with the original G500 and G600 flight displays later this year.

New Garmin Aviation Database Manager

Garmin released a new app for both the PC and Mac to help simplify database updates for your aircraft. Once your aircraft is established in the flyGarmin website with an active subscription, the app offers a more efficient way to keep your databases current. Upon login, the app presents all the aircraft and portables on your account. Once an aircraft is selected, a handy calendar in a Gantt chart format is displayed to help understand the status of your databases and when the next update will become available. It listens in the background and when the new database becomes available, it downloads it in the background to help reduce the time required to install the database on the SD card. I’ve been using it on my Mac for a while now and am really enjoying this new streamlined alternative to the flyGarmin website. Give it a try if you haven’t already, download here --> flyGarmin - Garmin Aviation Database Manager.

The team put together a series of videos to help understand this new app, check them out here --> https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUp35uc5zMnWzAFHhKz8j8RP_hw-Lzcyz

I look forward to your feedback.

-Joey Ferreyra
Garmin Sales & Customer Experience Manager