Day 2 of Heli-Expo is well on its way today as we recover from a number of new and exciting announcements from Day 1 of the show yesterday. Garmin has been incredibly busy showing off our new products we announced last week. In case you missed our new helicopter announcements, check them out below:

GDL 84H and GDL 88H ADS-B datalink

The GDL 84H and GDL 88H provide state-of-the-art traffic alerting capabilities tailored to helicopter operators and their unique operations. Beneficial traffic and Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) weather allow pilots to easily access the safety benefits offered by ADS-B on an installed compatible display or mobile device in the cockpit using Garmin Pilot. Enhancing the traffic display, TargetTrend relative motion technology helps pilots visualize the trend of the traffic threats as it relates to their aircraft, while innovative dual-link technology provides pilots with the most comprehensive ADS-B traffic picture available in the industry. As part of Garmin’s Terminal Safety Suite, TerminalTraffic provides pilots with the most comprehensive picture of ADS-B-equipped aircraft and ground vehicles in the airport environment. TerminalTraffic helps pilots easily distinguish potential traffic conflicts while in the airport environment by minimizing nuisance alerts from fixed-wing aircraft and abbreviating select alerts while performing unique helicopter maneuvers such as hovering.

Garmin Pilot optimizes maps and charts for helicopters

Helicopter Route Charts within the latest iOS version of Garmin Pilot provide detailed information applicable to the unique missions carried out by these operators. These three-color charts depict helicopter airways and routes, heliports with associated frequency and lighting capabilities, NAVAID information and obstructions. Additionally, pictorial symbols, roads and geographical features are notated on these charts for easier identification in urban areas with high concentrations of helicopter activity.

Garmin Pilot includes VFR and IFR Helicopter Route Charts for eight major metropolitan areas, including:

1) Baltimore
2) Boston
3) Chicago
4) Dallas-Ft.Worth
5) Detroit
6) Houston
7) Los Angeles
8) New York

Coverage for the Gulf of Mexico is also available, which includes offshore oil drilling platforms and more.

For helicopter air ambulance operators, rules recently established by the FAA requiring pilots to identify and document the highest obstacle along a planned route (§ 135.615), can now fulfill those requirements within Garmin Pilot. When entering a departure and destination airport pair, Garmin Pilot conveniently identifies the highest obstacle along the route of flight in mean sea level (MSL) and above ground level (AGL) within the Flight Plan page and notates the obstacle graphically on the moving map page.

Come by the Garmin booth (#809) for a live demo of Garmin Pilot or to talk with any one of our experts about your ADS-B upgrade path today! Stay tuned tomorrow as we continue to highlight additional helicopter solutions from Garmin and all of the events from Day 3 of the show.