Although Garmin’s G600 glass instrument panel was designed as a retrofit, at least one aircraft manufacturer plans to put them in new airplanes.
Aviat Aircraft will offer G600s as an option on new Husky A1-Cs beginning in the 2009 model year—the first aircraft maker to do so.
“We think the G600 is going to be a very popular option,” said Aviat CEO Stu Horn.
A glass-panel bush plane may seem like a contradiction in terms, but most of the planes going out the door of Aviat’s factory in Afton, Wyo., have IFR cockpits.
Aviat hasn’t set a price for glass-panel Huskies. But the two-screen G600 will retail for just under $30,000. When installed as a retrofit, Garmin estimates it will take more than 70 shop hours to install. The installation process should be significantly less, however, when done on a factory assembly line.
The G600 is a stripped-down version of Garmin’s high-end G1000 fully integrated cockpit and uses many of the same components. Garmin expects to receive FAA certification for its G600, and permission to install them in about 800 kinds of aircraft, this summer.
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