Upgrades for Garmin® G1000®-equipped King Air 200

OSHKOSH, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced it is working on upgrades to the G1000-equipped King Air 200 supplemental type certificate (STC). The updated STC is expected to include software and optional equipment enhancements that will give King Air 200 pilots new features and capabilities for enhanced safety and ease of operation.

“One of the often overlooked advantages of the G1000 system is that it’s completely designed and manufactured by Garmin. We create our new hardware and software to communicate with established Garmin products, which in turn lets customers upgrade their aircraft with the newest equipment and features at a fraction of the cost,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing. “Some of our newest capabilities – such as our stability augmentation system – are revolutionary, affordable systems that bring technology to the general aviation fleet that has previously been cost prohibitive.”

The list of optional equipment expected to be available on the G1000-equipped King Air 200 is extensive and covers a wide array of features and capabilities.

Worldwide weather, communication, and datalink

The GSR 56 Iridium transceiver has worldwide weather capability and informs pilots of METARs, TAFs, and winds aloft around the globe. In addition, radar and satellite imagery are available for the United States, Southern Canada and Western Europe. The GSR 56 also offers Iridium voice and data service (subscription required) that lets pilots or passengers make worldwide Iridium-based calls from the airplane’s cockpit or cabin while in-flight or on the ground.

The GDL^® 59 is a flight parameter recorder that uses a high speed Wi-Fi transceiver (802.11g) to synch with Wi-Fi hot spots that are within range of the airplane while it is on the ground. The GDL 59 supports transmission of logged data reports including engine trend and exceedance data, system maintenance data crew advisory system (CAS) messages, and more. The highly-configurable information recorded on the GDL 59 may be downloaded after the flight through Wi-Fi via the GDL 59, or it may be sent during flight through the Iridium data transmission via the GSR 56.

Traffic systems

Garmin’s TCAS I and TAS traffic systems, the GTS 850 and GTS 820, are expected to be approved for installation in the G1000-equipped King Air 200. Garmin’s traffic systems combine active and passive surveillance data to pinpoint specific traffic threats. They feature Garmin’s CLEAR CAS (Correlated Location Enhanced ADS-B Receiver Collision Avoidance System) technology, a hybrid system that provides real-time information that is totally independent of radar-based air traffic control. The GTS 850 TCAS I system meets the TCAS I performance criteria, providing the range and response to give early warning of fast-closing aircraft in high-traffic airspace. The GTS 820 TAS delivers 250 watts of transmit power and up to 40 nautical miles of interrogation range.

Garmin ESP

Also expected to be available on the King Air 200 is Garmin’s newly announced Garmin’s Electronic Stability and Protection (Garmin ESP) system. This electronic monitoring and exceedance-correcting technology works to assist the pilot in maintaining the aircraft in a safe, flight stable condition, helping in certain situations to prevent the onset of stalls and spins, steep spirals or other loss-of-control conditions should the pilot become distracted, disoriented or incapacitated during flight.

Garmin ESP also offers high and low airspeed protection while pilots are hand-flying the aircraft. If a King Air 200 with Garmin ESP approaches the aircraft’s speed limits (V_MO or V_NE), Garmin ESP engages and applies force to the control yoke to increase the aircraft’s pitch attitude and prevent a further increase in airspeed. Garmin ESP also has built in parameters to prevent the aircraft from exceeding G-limit load factors upon pullout. In high performance aircraft with angle of attack/lift sensors like the King Air 200, Garmin ESP offers low airspeed or stall protection that reduces the probability of stalling the aircraft by providing a gentle pitch-down control force through the control yoke when the aircraft’s wing approaches its critical angle of attack.

Software upgrade

In addition to the new optional equipment upgrades, the new STC for the G1000-equipped King Air 200 will include software enhancements: TAWS-B profile view, VNAV target altitude projection, and the ability to display METARS on the map.

Price and availability

Garmin has established a select list of authorized G1000 retrofit dealers to sell and install the G1000 on the King Air. A complete list of authorized dealers is available at www.garmin.com/buzz/g1000. King Air owners interested in any of these optional upgrades should contact an authorized G1000 retrofit dealer for an installation quote and to place an order.

The G1000-equipped King Air 200 is expected to be the first aircraft to receive Garmin ESP later this year and it will be available for an expected list price of $17,995. In addition, King Air 200 customers can receive savings of up to $15,000 between now and December 31, 2010, when they select the G1000-retrofit Platinum Option package that includes a GTS 850 or GTS 820 traffic system.

About Garmin

Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation. Since 1989, this group of companies has designed, manufactured, marketed and sold navigation, communication and information devices and applications – most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin’s products serve automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation, marine, aviation, and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual pressroom at www.garmin.com/pressroom or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. Garmin, G1000, and GDL are registered trademarks, and Garmin ESP is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2009, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). Copies of these filings are available at www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/invRelations/finReports.html. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.