Citation Excel and XLS owners can now go to Yingling Aviation for Garmin G5000 integrated glass flight deck (IFD) retrofits. Yingling, an authorised Garmin IFD facility, has installed more than 250 Garmin glass panels in Textron turbine aircraft.
“This new STC from Garmin is what the market has been asking for,” said Stuart Ashenden, avionics department manager at Yingling. “It obviously meets the needs and desires of NextGen operators. We are already taking firm reservations and scheduling installations three months in advance.”
Yingling also recently added four more service hangars adjacent to its existing site in Wichita, Kansas, meaning it now operates from nine service hangars, and employs more than 120 people. The new facilities include an upgraded paint hangar, paint prep and curing area, and more space to grow its interior and avionics departments.
“These additions have not only allowed us to provide MRO services to the growing base of Citation and King Air customers we have acquired since adding this segment a few years ago, they also give us plenty of capacity to provide rapid and efficient response to Excel and XLS operators who desire to upgrade to Garmin G5000 avionics,” said Jerry Pickett, vice president of business development at Yingling. “We knew there was a vacancy in the market for an MRO with significant customer-centric practices, and the response has been beyond our expectations. We are extremely fortunate to have an exceptional base of talented professionals in all areas of our operation – especially when it comes to working on Textron aircraft. The expertise of our Wichita-based staff when it comes to Cessna and Beechcraft products is arguably the best and most experienced in the industry.”
The Garmin G5000 avionics suite offers satellite-based navigation capabilities, digital flight management tools, NextGen/SESAR/Eurocontrol operational support for ADS-B and Data Comm/Link 2000+, as well as graphical display technologies designed for enhanced safety and crew coordination.
“The new G5000 glass upgrade suite not only features the most intuitive, fully integrated pilot interface ever seen in this class of avionics equipment, but, typically, it also replaces enough outdated wiring and hardware in the aircraft to provide an estimated weight saving of 200 lbs or more,” said Pickett. “That translates into significant extra payload and fuel planning flexibility. This upgrade reduces the cost required to maintain older avionics and addresses obsolescence. It really breathes new life and capability into the airframe.”
The Garmin G5000 flight deck combines three landscape-oriented 14in flight displays with two digital touchscreen display/controllers that serve as the primary crew interface for the system. The wide-format flight displays can function in multi-pane mode, allowing multiple pages (or reversionary PFD/MFD) to be viewed side by side on the same screen. With this capability, pilots can simultaneously view maps, charts, checklists, TAWS-A, TCAS II, flight plans, weather, video input and more. All engine indications and crew alerting messages are integrated into the flight deck. The G5000 system for the Citation Excel/XLS also features a digital, dual-channel automatic flight control system (AFCS), which supports capabilities including fully coupled go-arounds, emergency descent mode and other autopilot features.
For added situational awareness, optional Garmin synthetic vision technology is available on the flight displays. Other G5000 package options include weather radar capabilities including turbulence detection, ground clutter suppression, as well as windshear and traffic alerting with available TCAS/ACAS II functionality. Garmin Connext global datalink services, including worldwide satellite weather coverage, voice calling, email and text messaging, SiriusXM satellite weather and audio entertainment links are also available.
