Revolutionary helicopter flight control system
will bring advanced safety features to H130 owners and
operators
OLATHE,
Kan., March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Garmin
(NYSE: GRMN) today announced upcoming Supplemental Type Certificate
(STC) approval of the GFC™ 600H Helicopter Flight Control System
for retrofit in Airbus H130 helicopters, providing operators with
an advanced flight control solution that reduces pilot workload and
improves mission effectiveness. The GFC 600H provides a number of
helicopter-tailored features, including attitude hold with speed
stability, the innovative hover assist mode, Garmin Helicopter
Electronic Stability and Protection (H-ESP™), dedicated
return-to-level (LVL) mode, as well as overspeed and low-speed
protection, and more.
"We are very excited to bring the highly capable GFC
600H to Airbus H130 owners and operators. This flight control
system can significantly reduce inflight workload while also
providing many advanced and safety-minded capabilities to better
assist pilots in conducting their missions."
–Carl Wolf, Garmin Vice President
of Aviation Sales and Marketing
The GFC 600H features a console-mounted mode controller with
push-button controls and a night vision goggle (NVG) compatible
display. Integrated smart servos provide pitch and roll inputs as
commanded by the system, while the collective sensor adds proactive
commands to provide smoother, more predictable flight control
adjustments when the pilot moves the collective. Digitally
controlled, high-performance servos allow for faster, crisper, more
powerful response, which enables the GFC 600H to perform with
smooth efficiency and advanced capability.
Innovative hover assist mode can automatically detect a hover
condition and also allows for flight control inputs to help
maintain position over the ground. In addition, with the yaw axis
control, the GFC 600H can maintain position over the ground and
hold heading in hover. With the GFC 600H in H130 helicopters,
aircraft navigation works in conjunction with the G500H
TXi™ and GTN™ Xi to automatically fly
approaches, providing en route navigation guidance and fully
coupled missed approach procedures including holds, as well as
search and rescue patterns.
"This innovative autopilot further extends the outstanding
operational capabilities of the H130, offering advanced stability
and precise control for safer, more efficient and more productive
missions."
–Jerome Ronssin, Head of Light Helicopters Program at Airbus
Helicopters
The advanced attitude and heading reference system (AHRS)
technology and redundant, cross-checking sensors of the GFC 600H
support smooth handling throughout the flight envelope. Further,
attitude retention mode reduces pilot workload by maintaining a
specified attitude, while providing inputs to help stabilize the
helicopter when hand-flying. Designed with the pilot in mind, the
GFC 600H incorporates cyclic-mounted trim controls to allow for
seamless control of the system without taking a hand off of the
flight controls during basic operations. Additional modes include
altitude hold, altitude select, vertical speed, indicated airspeed
and heading select.
The GFC 600H offers safety-enhancing features, including
overspeed protection and low-speed protection as well as Garmin
H-ESP that can help the pilot remain within a safe flight envelope
when hand-flying the helicopter. H-ESP works in all modes – even
when the system is not engaged – and can be manually disabled to
allow for maneuvering flight. A dedicated LVL button is included on
the GFC 600H and can be engaged by the pilot to return to
straight-and-level flight, helping to avoid potential
disorientation in degraded visual environments (DVE), such as
inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
With low altitude protection, the GFC 600H provides alerting and an
automatic pitch mode change to assist the pilot in recovery to safe
altitude.
Retrofit availability of GFC 600H for the Airbus H130 and EC130
T2 is expected in Q2 2025. The GFC 600H will also be available as
the factory-installed option in new Airbus H130 helicopters. For
additional information, visit www.garmin.com/GFC600H or
www.garmin.com/aviation.
Garmin products and services have revolutionized flight and
become essential to the lives of pilots and aircraft owners and
operators around the world. A leading provider of solutions to
general aviation, business aviation, rotorcraft, advanced air
mobility, government and defense, and commercial air carrier
customers, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate.
Recipient of the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy for
Garmin Autoland, Garmin developed the world's first certified
autonomous system that activates during an emergency to control and
land an aircraft without human intervention. Visit the
Garmin Newsroom, email our media team, connect with
@garminaviation on social, or follow our blog.
About Garmin International, Inc. Garmin
International, Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN).
Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries
are located in the United States,
Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin is a registered
trademark and GFC, H-ESP, TXi and GTN are trademarks of Garmin Ltd.
or its subsidiaries.
All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and
service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All
rights reserved.
Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:
This release
includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its
business. Such statements are based on management's current
expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances
discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could
differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and
uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the
risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 28, 2024, filed by
Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file
number 0-31983). A copy of such Form 10-K is available at
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/company/investors/earnings/. No
forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and
Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.
Media Contact:
Mikayla
Minnick
913-397-8200
media.relations@garmin.com
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SOURCE Garmin International, Inc.
