Story ID: 
Garmin Launches ‘G1000 Light’ Avionics
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Garmin unveiled the G950 avionics suite at the Sun ’n’ Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., on Tuesday.
Word Count: 173
Garmin unveiled the G950 avionics suite at the Sun ’n’ Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., on Tuesday. The glass avionics suite, dubbed “G1000 light” by a spokeswoman, is designed for aircraft manufacturers who want a standardized avionics configuration and will complete certification of their airframe’s avionics panel on their own. Quartz Mountain Aerospace is the first manufacturer to select the G950, for its four-place piston single. “The G950 is a step between the G900X and G1000,” said Garmin vice president of marketing Gary Kelley. Since the G950 isn’t customizable and doesn’t include the GFC 700 autopilot, he said, “OEMs will also have the benefit of a streamlined certification process.” Like the G1000, the G950 integrates all primary flight, navigation, communication, terrain, traffic, surveillance, weather and engine sensor data on two or three Garmin high-definition LCDs. However, the Garmin synthetic vision system, which was certified earlier this week by the FAA for the G1000, isn’t currently available for the G950, though the company might add this capability in the future.