Eclipse 500 Gets a Pair of Garmins

Eclipse Aviation this afternoon revealed another major change to the Avio NG avionics suite for the Eclipse 500, announcing the addition of two panel-mount, WAAS-capable Garmin GPS 400W receivers to bring GPS navigation capability to the very light jet. Certification of the upgrade for Avio NG system, itself an upgrade from the original Avio avionics, is expected by June, with production cut-in planned for the third quarter. Eclipse said it will also retrofit all previously delivered Eclipse 500s with the Garmin boxes at no cost to operators, though the Albuquerque, N.M. manufacturer offered no retrofit schedule. The GPS 400W units will finally allow Eclipse operators to file GPS-direct flight plans and will also provide Lnav and advisory-only Vnav capability. Lateral precision with vertical WAAS approach guidance will be available in the fourth quarter. The GPS 400W retrofits will require replacement of the Eclipse 500’s existing GPS antenna with a Beta 3 WAAS-certified antenna, though the company does not expect any structural modifications.