Aircraft Aircraft Stepups Avionics

Garmin G1000 NXi: Faster, Brighter

Were awed at the precision with which the GFC700 flies-on all ends of the airframe spectrum. Its no easy task to make an autopilot fly just as we'll in a Skyhawk as it does in a beefy 350 King Air. The G1000 NXi retrofit includes complete removal of the old autopilot system and many trash bins of old wiring. Got an old King Air with the primitive AC inverter system? That all comes out, simplifying the electrical bus and overall reliability. Depending on the aircraft, the user input for the autopilot is either on the PFD or on a dedicated GFC700 control panel.

Larry Anglisano
Verified

In avionics life, 13 years is an impressive production run. That’s roughly the time Garmin’s G1000 has spent at the top of the integrated avionics market. While Garmin has been making incremental upgrades to the system—some major and some minor—it says the latest update, the G1000 NXi, is the most major one to date.

Avionics Flight Test

To see just what the next-generation G1000 NXi brings to the table, we went flying with the system in Garmin’s King Air 350, where it will replace the current G1000 for future King Air retrofits. The G1000 NXi could be the new standard for OEM equipage in a wide variety of airframes. Cirrus has already adopted the system, calling it the Perspective+ .

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.