Garmin has received FAA supplemental type Certification (STC) for the GFC 600 autopilot in the King Air 200 series of aircraft. The GFC 600 digital autopilot is designed for high performance piston single and twin engine aircraft, and also provides an advanced autopilot solution for both jet and turbine aircraft that have a wide range of speed and performance characteristics.

The GFC 600 certification for the King Air 200 provides owners an autopilot upgrade that incorporates solid-state attitude with robust self-monitoring capabilities to provide superior autopilot performance, greater reliability and safety features that are similar to the popular GFC 700 autopilot. In addition to traditional autopilot capabilities such as altitude hold, vertical speed and heading modes, the GFC 600 also includes altitude preselect, VNAV1, level mode, underspeed and overspeed protection and more. Pilots can also select, couple and fly various instrument approaches, including GPS, ILS, VOR, LOC and back course approaches when paired with a compatible GPS navigator.

Environmentally hardened autopilot servos designed for harsh operating conditions contain brushless DC motors offering improved performance and reducing maintenance requirements when compared to decades-old servo designs on the market today. In addition, these servos are optimised for turbine aircraft by offering more torque to help better command and respond to control demands required of turbine aircraft.

The standard mark-width (6.25-inch) design of the GFC 600 mode controller ensures the autopilot controller allows for routine installation into the aircraft's avionics stack. In King Air 200 aircraft, the GFC 600 will require a G600 TXi or G600 flight display.

In addition to traditional autopilot capabilities, the GFC 600 offers:

- Reduced pilot workload with coupled 'o-arounds during missed approaches when properly equipped.

- Premium functions and advanced capabilities such as altitude pre-select and indicated airspeed hold mode.

- Built-in GPS roll steering capability that eliminates the need for external roll steering converters, allowing for smoother navigation when installed with a compatible navigator.

- Level mode button, which automatically engages the autopilot to restore the aircraft to straight and level flight.

- Underspeed protection, which can help prevent the pilot from stalling the aircraft.

- Overspeed protection, which can help prevent the pilot from exceeding the aircraft maximum speed (VNE).

- Yaw damping (YD) mode that can help minimise yawing oscillations and can also help to maintain coordinated flight.

- Flight director command bars that can be displayed on the G600 and G600 TXi flight displays.

- Control wheel steering that allows the pilot to adjust pitch, roll, altitude hold, vertical speed or airspeed references using the control yoke while the autopilot is engaged.

As a standard feature, pilots receive Garmin Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) with the GFC 600 digital autopilot, which works to assist the pilot in maintaining the aircraft in a stable flight condition. ESP functions independently of the autopilot and works in the background to help pilots avoid inadvertent flight attitudes or bank angles and can help provide airspeed protection while the pilot is hand flying the aircraft.

The GFC 600 digital autopilot for the King Air 200 is available immediately through select Garmin authorised dealers for the following variants: 200, 200C, A200, A200CT, B200, B200C and B200GT. Garmin continues to add additional aircraft models to the growing STC list for the GFC 600 autopilot.