Lucy’s Logbook: Crossfill Between GTN and GNS Avionics

Since the introduction of the GTN in 2011, many of you have either upgraded, thought about upgrading, or are in the middle of an avionics upgrade right now! For some, the upgrade is coming in steps and because thousands of pilots have flown with and continue to fly with the GNS series, (can you believe it was introduced in 1998?!) many of you have even chosen to keep a GNS unit in your airplane while adding a new GTN to compliment your avionics stack.

To make the transition easier, we knew it would be important to our customers that both the GTN and GNS shared information with each other. In other words, flight plans, waypoints, and other types of data would crossfill between both sets of avionics. Depending on your installation, below is a list of data that will crossfill:

Dual GTN Crossfill Features

·         Flight plan data

·         User waypoints

·         Alerts: traffic and missed approach popup acknowledgements

·         External sensors, such as transponder code

·         Pilot selectable system setup information: nearest airport criteria, CDI scale settings, etc.

GTN – GNS Crossfill Features

·         GTN – GNS: Active flight plans, Active direct-to, User waypoints

·         GNS – GTN: User waypoints

If your installation includes a GTN and GNS navigator, it is important that the GTN is operating with software version 3.0 or higher. Furthermore, both GTN and GNS units must be utilizing the same exact cycle and coverage area of navigation data.

Another important factor is that both units must be configured to crossfill, which can be enabled by the pilot.  To enable crossfill on the GTN, from the Home screen, select System > Setup > and choose Crossfill. If the Crossfill feature is not selectable, it may be necessary to contact a local Garmin authorized dealer to ensure this function was enabled during installation.

Change is not easy, especially when so many of us have been flying with the GNS series for over 15 years! In addition to the crossfill function, to make the transition from the GNS to GTN series easier we’ve developed a GTN Trainer Application for iPad users. The GTN PC Trainer is also available for computers operating Windows 7, XP, or Vista and is free to download!

Flying over the Grand Canyon this weekend? Don’t forget your charts! Garmin Pilot now offers the Grand Canyon VFR Aeronautical Chart! 

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