Garmin® introduces the revolutionary GFC 600H helicopter flight control system

Garmin International, Inc. a unit of #garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the GFC™ 600H flight control system for helicopter owners and operators – a breakthrough in cost-effective technology that reduces pilot workload and improves mission effectiveness. This attitude-based (AHRS-derived) flight control system boasts a number of helicopter-tailored safety features, including stability augmentation system (SAS), #garmin Helicopter Electronic Stability and Protection (H-ESP™), dedicated return-to-level (LVL) mode, hover assist, as well as overspeed and low speed protection. The GFC 600H can operate as a full-featured standalone flight control system, but also offers integration with compatible flight displays, including the #garmin G500H and G500H TXi flight displays, instruments and navigation sources.

“Garmin designed the GFC 600H to significantly reduce inflight workload, fatigue and stress levels for helicopter pilots who are often faced with complicated missions in adverse weather conditions or degraded visual environments,” said Carl Wolf, #garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “The GFC 600H combines our industry-leading flight control capabilities with our helicopter experience and aviation safety technology expertise to deliver a system that ultimately allows pilots to focus more attention on accomplishing the multitude of missions they face while trusting their helicopter flight to us.”

With its advanced AHRS technology and redundant, cross-checking sensors, the GFC 600H was designed for smooth handling. The GFC 600H includes SAS that provides inputs to help stabilize the helicopter while hand-flying. The corrections provided by SAS serve to improve the helicopter’s basic handling characteristics by maintaining a commanded attitude. Designed with the pilot in mind, its cyclic-mounted trim controls allows for seamless interactions without taking a hand off of the helicopter flight controls during basic operations, including system initialization of the SAS in attitude mode, adjustments of the pitch and roll trim, and much more. While flying with SAS, pilots can easily “fly through” the flight control inputs for smooth maneuvers beyond the preset trim condition.