Garmin Engine Instruments for the Turbo Commander is flying!

[Adam Frisch]

Saw this clip on Instagram from the first GEI suite on a 1000 model. Is it certified now? Cool anyhow!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4lAic4sj6p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[donv]

Interesting! I think that is Andy Goodreau's instagram.

N12VA, that airplane, was also the prototype 1200!

[Adam Frisch]

Oh, wow! Cool!

Too bad the 1200 never happened. Sounded like a rocket sled!

[donv]

1200 was doomed no matter what. The Cheyenne 400LS, which did everything (and more!) that the 1200 hoped to do, wasn't much of a market success either.

Garmin engine instruments on the other hand, I think will be a useful improvement. I would have to really understand the cost/benefit before I put one in my airplane-- the mechanical gauges work fine, so it needs to provide a cost benefit unless there is some feature that I am missing.

[donv]

I wonder if the Garmin EIS will work with the -10T conversions?

The SRL would seem like an easy interface, and I would guess that a standard -5 would be no problems, but there would be some work to put the variable red line for the -10T in, I would think.

Of course, not working with the -10T would also be quite limiting for their market.

[donv]

I wonder if the 1200 was going to have some sort of electronic engine instrumentation? The Starship was developed around the same time, had Collins avionics and electronic engine instrumentation.

The Peregrine 1500, which was not really a Commander but at least somewhat developed by the Commander engineering team, also had electronic engine instruments. Really, the Peregrine panel looks a lot like a modernized Commander panel...