Significant milestone in Garmin G5000 retrofit program for Cessna Citation Excel & Citation XLS

Garmin announced that 10% of the ever-popular Cessna Citation Excel and XLS business jet fleet has now been retrofitted with Garmin’s G5000®integrated flight deck upgrade. The G5000 integrated avionics suite modernizes the cockpit with additional capabilities, significantly reduces operational costs, increases situational awareness of the flight crew and solves long-term concerns related to legacy avionics parts obsolescence.

“We are thrilled that so many owners and operators have chosen to upgrade their Citation Excel/XLS with the G5000 since we announced program certification just two years ago,” said 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. We look forward to growing the success of this program further so even more owners and operators can continue to experience the benefits of the G5000 integrated flight deck in the cockpit.”

A complete retrofit solution

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

Installation of the G5000 on the Citation Excel/XLS includes a fully digital Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), offering precise performance throughout the aircraft’s flight envelope. The G5000 retrofit for the Citation Excel also includes Emergency Descent Mode (EDM) as a standard feature that can be enabled by the autopilot in the event of a loss in aircraft pressurization. Underspeed protection (USP) is an optional feature that allows the autopilot to assist with airspeed management, while also enabling fully coupled go-arounds, greatly reducing pilot workload.

The G5000 upgrade for the Citation Excel/XLS comes with a fully integrated Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out solution that’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rule-compliant. Additionally, 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.

With the G5000, pilots can receive departure clearances faster using FAA Data Comm. Controller Pilot Data Link Communication-Departure Clearance (CPDLC-DCL) automates Clearance Delivery operations at over 60 of the busiest airports in the U.S. and enables wireless receipt and automatic loading of the departure clearance into the G5000. Additionally, the G5000 supports En Route CPDLC capability, which allows the exchange of data link messages with Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) in domestic airspace. European operators can also meet Link 2000+ requirements using this same technology. FAA Data Comm and Link 2000+ require optional equipment and services.

Versatile customization

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
• FANS-1/A+ and ACARS support, meeting requirements to fly the North Atlantic Track System (NATS)

As an additional option for this upgrade, 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. Flight Stream 510 also enables Database Concierge, the wireless transfer of aviation databases from the Garmin Pilot app on a mobile device to the G5000.