Garmin’s G5 electronic flight instrument, which was introduced last year for experimental aircraft, has received FAA approved model list supplemental type certification for installation in 562 aircraft models on 82 type certificate data sheets. The approval aligns with the FAA’s recent moves to facilitate installation of safety equipment in light aircraft. Visitors to EAA AirVenture can see the G5 in the full Garmin avionics panel in Yingling’s Ascend remanufactured Cessna 172 at the AOPA pavilion. The airplane is the AOPA Sweepstakes airplane.

The G5 retails for $2,149 or $2,499 with an optional GPS antenna, and both include the installation kit, back-up battery and STC. Garmin expects to begin delivering the G5 in September. The G5 fits in standard 3.125-inch instrument holes and can replace either the existing attitude indicator or turn coordinator, and it is certified for VFR and IFR operations “as a primary source for aircraft attitude or turn coordination information and secondary source for altitude, airspeed and vertical speed in a single instrument,” according to Garmin. A lithium-ion backup battery provides four hours of operation in case of failure of the aircraft’s electrical system. 

The G5 features include a 3.5-inch display that shows attitude, airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, slip/skid, turn rate, configurable v-speeds, barometric setting, GPS-based track and groundspeed, selected altitude and visual alerts for arrival at a pre-selected altitude. 

“The FAA’s Safer Skies initiative identified vacuum system and gyro failures as a significant contributor to accidents in instrument meteorological conditions among GA, and with the support of the FAA we’re working to address those concerns by bringing the G5 electronic flight instrument to certified fixed-wing aircraft as an attitude indicator or turn coordinator replacement,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin v-p of aviation sales and marketing. “This economical installation and upgrade path revolutionizes GA by bringing modern attitude reference to thousands of aircraft that would otherwise depend on older, vacuum-driven equipment. We look forward to working with the FAA to continue to identify and address additional solutions for aging and failure-prone equipment.”