Following Garmin’s receipt of FAA supplemental type certification for the G5000 avionics upgrade on Cessna Citation XLS+ and Citation XLS Gen2 aircraft, East Coast Aviation owner Kim Leonard is looking forward to being the first Textron Aviation customer to install the new avionics and enjoy the enhanced capabilities in his Cessna Citation XLS+. A longtime Cessna Citation owner and private operator based in North Carolina, Leonard has recorded 21,000 hours flying and has flown Cessna Citations for 35 years.

“I will be able to take off from the airport and pull the weather up before I even get off the ground in my airplane with the G5000,” he says. “It does everything. It is absolutely the complete package.”

Leonard’s G5000 installation will take place at Textron’s Wichita, Kansas, service centre.

“The G5000 avionics upgrade for the Cessna Citation XLS series modernises the cockpit and addresses the evolution of FAA airspace, while also offering a lower cost of operation,” says Brian Rohloff, senior vice president, customer support. “We are continuously investing in new enhancements for our customers and their aircraft and expanding the G5000 avionics system to Citation XLS+ and XLS Gen2 operators supports our mission to deliver the best aviation experience.”

The G5000 features three landscape-oriented flight displays with split-screen capability, allowing pilots to simultaneously view maps, charts, checklists, Terrain Awareness Warning System, traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS), flight plan information, weather and more, increasing situational awareness for the flight crew. It also includes options for synthetic vision technology and fully automatic advanced weather radar and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) Out compliance and allows for future growth and expansion through software updates.

As the original equipment manufacturer of the aircraft, Textron can offer an installation of Garmin’s G5000 integrated flight deck upgrade that maintains the integrity of the aircraft’s originally certified systems.