FAA Approves IS&S Autothrottle for G1000 King Airs

Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S) has added Beechcraft King Airs equipped with Garmin G1000 and G1000 NXi avionics to its ThrustSense autothrottle supplemental type certificate (STC) program. The move adds a significant number of aircraft to the potential market for the ThrustSense autothrottle and adds the safety benefits of ThrustSense—including LifeGuard engine-out VMCa mitigation—to G1000-equipped King Airs.

The STC covers King Air 200 and 300-series turboprops with G1000 avionics. In addition to the modified throttle quadrant, the STC requires the installation of an IS&S standby instrument, which is a form-fit replacement for the Mid-Continent Standby Attitude Module in the G1000-modified King Airs. The IS&S standby also is the controller for the ThrustSense autothrottle and the pilot interface.

IS&S’s autothrottle was first certified in the Pilatus PC-12 and Collins Pro Line 21-equipped King Airs and it is standard equipment on new King Airs. The potential market for G1000-equipped King Airs is large, with more than 800 already upgraded, and continues to grow, in part because so many pilots do primary training on G1000-equipped aircraft and prefer to stick with those avionics as they climb the aviation ladder, said IS&S director of autothrottle products Tom Grunbeck.

The IS&S autothrottle STC is now available for almost all King Air models, Grunbeck explained, including older ones with legacy avionics—except for the C90. “We call it an agnostic-type system,” he said.

ThrustSense provides automatic power control from takeoff to landing or go-around and it also “prevents both engine and airspeed exceedances by automatically controlling engine output by computing and adjusting to the exact appropriate power levels, thus significantly reducing pilot workload,” according to IS&S. The LifeGuard VMCa mitigation “proportionally reduces engine power to maintain directional control” in case of a failure of one engine.

Installation of the ThrustSense autothrottle can be done by Textron Aviation service centers, IS&S dealers, or by IS&S’s mobile installation unit. The price for G1000-equipped King Airs is $80,990 plus installation.