Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. and Rotorcraft Services Group, an industry leader in helicopter and aircraft services, today announced that Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) has validated the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for installation of Garmin’s G500H glass cockpit in Eurocopter AS350B2, AS350B3 and/or EC130B4 helicopters. With this validation, authorized Garmin dealers can install a G500H in these Canadian-registered helicopter models. 

“The G500H is a popular glass cockpit for helicopter operators because it was specifically engineered for safety and reliability in today’s helicopter environment,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing. “The TCCA validation opens the door for operators in Canada to fly behind this cutting edge technology and enjoy the benefits of enhanced situational awareness.”  

The G500H is an all-glass avionics system designed specifically for the VFR Part 27 helicopter market. The system offers Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology (HSVT), a feature that enhances situational awareness by giving operators a clear depiction of obstacles, traffic, ground and water features, airports and more all in 3-D perspective on the primary flight display (PFD).

The PFD shows attitude, airspeed, vertical speed, altitude and course/heading information, and the multi-function display (MFD) has detailed moving map graphics with the helicopter’s current position in relation to terrain, chart data, navaids, and flight plan routings.

The system supports other features like optional worldwide weather, the ability to display video from a forward looking infrared (FLIR) camera or other video sources, and a helicopter-specific database with over 7,000 heliports and nearly 30,000 additional low-altitude obstacles in addition to the already extensive obstacle database found in the fixed-wing G500 system.

Installations of the G500H in a Canadian-registered Eurocopter AS350B2, AS350B3 and/or EC130B4 helicopter can begin immediately and may take place at an authorized Garmin aviation dealer. The PMA parts kit required for installation is available from Rotorcraft Services Group, and the STC installation data is available to Garmin aviation dealers on the Garmin aviation dealer site. Additional information about the G500H is available at www.garmin.com/helicopters.