Ten per cent of the Cessna Citation Excel and XLS business jet fleet has now been retrofitted with Garmin's G5000 integrated flight deck upgrade. The integrated avionics suite aims to add additional capabilities, reduce operational costs and increase situational awareness.

“We are thrilled that so many owners and operators have chosen to upgrade their Citation Excel/XLS with the G5000 since we announced programme certification just two years ago,” says Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “Offering an unprecedented level of situational awareness, the G5000 also yields a significantly lower cost of operation and delivers an exceptional in flight experience, making it an attractive upgrade in these popular aircraft.”

The G5000 features three landscape oriented flight displays with split screen capability, allowing pilots to simultaneously view maps, charts, checklists, TAWS, TCAS, flight plan information and weather. Electronic charts and Garmin SafeTaxi airport diagrams are geo-referenced and can be viewed across all three displays. Touchscreen controllers serve as the pilot interface to the flight deck and contribute to the ease of operation and transition between various pages.

Installation includes a fully digital automatic flight control system. The G5000 retrofit for the Citation Excel also includes emergency descent mode as a standard feature that can be enabled by the autopilot in the event of a loss in aircraft pressurisation. Underspeed protection is an optional feature that allows the autopilot to assist with airspeed management, while also enabling fully coupled go arounds.

The upgrade comes with a fully integrated automatic dependent surveillance broadcast solution that's FAA and EASA rule compliant. Operators gain access to more airports and lower approach minimums throughout the world as the G5000 has PBN/RNP 0.3 with LPV/APV approach capability.

Controller pilot data link communication (CPDLC) departure clearance automates clearance delivery operations at over 60 of the busiest airports in the U.S. and should enable wireless receipt and automatic loading of the departure clearance into the G5000. Additionally, it supports en route CPDLC capability, which allows the exchange of data link messages with air route traffic control centres in domestic airspace. European operators can also meet Link 2000+ requirements using this same technology.

The G5000 for the Citation Excel/XLS also supports additional options, including SVT synthetic vision technology, which presents a 3D virtual depiction of terrain, obstacles, traffic and the runway environment; SurfaceWatch, which supports visual and aural cues to help prevent pilots from taking off and landing on a taxiway, on a runway that is too short or on the wrong runway based on performance data entered during preflight; Datalink weather, including access to global weather products and text/voice communication through the Iridium satellite network; Advanced doppler weather radar features, including ground clutter suppression and turbulence detection; and FANS-1/A+ and ACARS support.

As an option, Connext wireless cockpit connectivity via the Flight Stream 510 enables wireless flight plan transfer and more between compatible mobile devices, including Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go and ForeFlight Mobile. Owners and operators can more easily manage flight plans with the Flight Stream 510, while also receiving additional benefits such as the sharing of traffic, weather, GPS and more across multiple mobile devices in the cockpit.