Overview
Standby flight instrumentation is required for IFR flight. The G5 and GI 275 are compatible with the AXIS™ flight displays, however, the GI 275 is not capable of communicating with the GFC 500 using the AXIS flight displays and must be configured to interface with a third party autopilot.
This section describes capabilities and functions of the optional Garmin GFC 507 autopilot system unless otherwise noted.
The approved Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) always supersedes the information in this Pilot’s Guide.
Refer to the approved Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH)/Airplane Flight Manual Supplement (AFMS) for emergency procedures.
VOR, LOC, and GS modes are all GPS-aided. You must have a GPS position to use VOR, LOC, or GS modes.
An Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) is typically comprised of two major components: A Flight Director (FD) and Autopilot servos. The Flight Director provides pitch and roll commands to the autopilot servos. These pitch and roll commands are displayed on the PFW as Command Bars. When the Flight Director is active the pitch and roll commands can be hand-flown by the pilot or when coupled with the flight director, the autopilot servos drive the flight controls to follow the commands issued by the Flight Director. The Flight Director operates independently of the autopilot servos, but in most cases the autopilot servos can not operate independent of the Flight Director. On installations that do not have a separate and independent Flight Director, the Flight Director is always coupled to the autopilot. The autopilot and optional yaw damper operate the flight control surface servos to provide automatic flight control.
The Garmin Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) is fully integrated within the system avionics architecture. The System Overview section provides a block diagram to support this system description. Garmin AFCS functionality is distributed across the following Line Replaceable Unit's (LRU's):
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GDU™ 116 Flight Display
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GMC AFCS Controller (Internal)
- GMC 305 (optional)
- GMC 307 (optional)
- GMC 507 (optional)
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GSA 28 Pitch, Roll, Yaw, and Trim Servos
- 3rd Party Trim Servos
The AFCS is separated into these main operating functions:
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Flight Director (FD) — Flight director operation takes place within the GDU 507. Flight director commands are displayed on the PFD. The flight director provides:
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Command Bars showing pitch/roll guidance
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Vertical/Lateral mode selection and processing
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Autopilot communication
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Autopilot (AP) — Autopilot operation occurs within the pitch, roll, and yaw servos. It also provides servo monitoring and automatic flight control in response to flight director steering commands, Air Data and Attitude and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS) attitude, rate information, and airspeed.
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Yaw Damper (YD) — The yaw servo (optional), is self-monitoring and provides Dutch roll damping and turn coordination in response to yaw rate, roll angle, lateral acceleration, and airspeed. If installed the YD comes on when the autopilot is engaged and stays on after disengaging the autopilot.
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Manual Electric Trim (MEPT) — Manual electric trim provides trim capability for the pitch axis when the autopilot is not engaged.
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Manual Electric Trim (MERT) — The roll trim actuator provides manual electric roll trim capability when the autopilot is not engaged.