By Daniel Baxter

OLATHE, Kan. March 16, 2009, Business Wire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, announced today that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted supplemental type certification (STC) for the G1000 avionics suite in the King Air 200 and B200.

“We’ve gone to great lengths to make sure customers who upgrade to this panel have the same leading edge technologies they would find in a jet, while also enjoying the utility and affordability of their King Air,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing. “This retrofit is available to most King Air 200/B200 aircraft today because the STC takes into account the most common King Air configurations such as Blackhawk engines.”

The G1000 avionics suite integrates all primary flight information, navigation data, communications, terrain awareness, traffic, weather, and engine instruments on a large 15-inch multi-function display (MFD) and two 10.4-inch primary flight displays (PFD). The G1000 installation on the King Air 200/B200 includes the GFC 700™ three-axis, fully digital, dual channel, fail passive automatic flight control system (AFCS). The GFC 700 includes features you would expect in this class of aircraft such as coupled wide area augmentation system (WAAS) approaches, vertical navigation, and flight level change (FLC).

The King Air 200/B200 STC also includes approval for Garmin’s synthetic vision technology (SVT™) that presents a 3D depiction of terrain, obstacles, traffic and the runway environment on the G1000’s PFD so that the image replicates what pilots would see outside the cockpit on a clear day. Land, water and sky are clearly differentiated with shading and textures that are similar to the topographical colors found on the MFD moving map. SVT works seamlessly to alert pilots of potential ground hazards by displaying terrain and obstacles which pose a threat to the aircraft with appropriate TAWS alert coloring, as well as voice alerts. SVT also includes pathways (or Highway-In-The-Sky) that are depicted as 3D “flying rectangles” and help pilots stay on course when flying en route legs, VNAV legs, GPS/WAAS vertical approach procedures, ILS approach procedures, and arrival and departure procedures. SVT is available immediately for King Air 200/B200 owners and is an optional upgrade.

Standard features of the G1000 avionics suite include WAAS, Class-B terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), dual integrated solid-state attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS), and dual integrated digital air data computers. In addition, Garmin’s GDL 69A™ is standard equipment that brings integrated satellite weather datalink and digital-quality audio via XM WX Satellite Weather™ (Service available to U.S. customers with a XM subscription).

The King Air 200/B200 STC also includes Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) support. This will allow aircraft to safely fly more optimum profiles, gain fuel savings and increase airspace capacity. Also included in the 200/B200’s G1000 avionics suite are Garmin’s SafeTaxi™ and FliteCharts™.   SafeTaxi is a built-in database of over 850 U.S. airport diagrams that provide the capability to view aircraft position on taxiways. FliteCharts is an electronic version of the Departure Procedures, Standard Terminal Arrival Routes, approach charts and airport diagrams, and may be viewed directly on the MFD.  Also available as an option is Garmin ChartView™, which helps simplify operations, enhances situational awareness and increases safety during flight. With ChartView, the aircraft’s position is overlaid on an electronic version of Jeppesen’s charts and airport diagrams.