GI 275 and GFC 500 Not Ready?

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Squarelane

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Squarelane
Hi Folks, new to the forum here. My (new to me) plane is in the shop for annual and avionics upgrades which include a GI 275 AI and GFC 500 AP as well as GPS, audio panel etc. The avionics guy said that Garmin is not shipping the GI275 because of something regarding compatibility of the unit with the GFC 500 not being ready or certified yet (something about Mod 1 and software). Does anyone have any insight on this?

I realize that this is a new device and in the press releases in July it said shipping was anticipated in August. However, if you go to Garmin website it gives the impression that the GI 275 - GFC 500
is a done deal and says nothing about the fact that as of right now, apparently, you cannot install these together which seems kind of disingenuous to me as far as advertising goes. Garmin told my avionics guy that possibly this week this will be worked out but its not clear to me if this is waiting on an FAA approval or something internally at Garmin. Meanwhile why panel is apart waiting on the GI275 to ship because everything (autopilot, GI275, GPS, audio panel) all need to be wired together.

Does anyone have more detail on the issue and what the actual timing might be?
 
I'm not sure about compatibility with GFC500's, but Garmin is absolutely shipping GI275's.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
I'm not sure about compatibility with GFC500's, but Garmin is absolutely shipping GI275's.
Click to expand...

Right, I meant that they are not shipping my GI275 because I need a specific mod to work with the GFC500 (which they advertise as now compatible).
 
I was discussing the GI-275 with my avionics shop a few weeks ago, and he said "marketing didn't talk with engineering before they made the announcement". They had an airplane in their shop with a -275 and a GFC-500 being installed, and they had no technical documents on how to interface them at that point.
 
Update: Spoke to my avionics guy today and he said the GI-275 has now shipped but he still
does not have the info on how to wire it to the GFC-500 but hopefully that will be updated on Garmin’s website soon.
 
As of this morning, the avionics shop says that Garmin has only released half of the information needed to complete the install.I’m not sure which piece of info is still missing. In addition to the GI275 and GFC500, there is also a GNX375 in the mix.

Nevertheless, for well over a month now Garmin has been advertising this like its a done deal. Yet, as of today it still cannot be installed. The irony is that I was strongly considering a Trutrak AP but given the reports here and from my avionics shop that they were having long shipping delays, and the fact that when my plane was ready for upgrade (a slot I reserved 5 months in advance) Garmin was advertising GI275/GFC500 compatibility I opted to go with what I thought would be a better system despite the increased cost. But here we are with Garmin overpromising and underdelivering.

Doe anyone have a completed GI-275 / GFC500 installed?
 
I can't help with your problem, but,

Welcome to POA,
and to airplane ownership. It sounds like you are getting some valuable experience right off the bat.
 
JOhnH said:
I can't help with your problem, but,

Welcome to POA,
and to airplane ownership. It sounds like you are getting some valuable experience right off the bat.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the warm welcome. Its been a learning experience indeed. Working on calibrating my expectations with avionics vendors...
 
Hi everyone, just to confirm what's been said, Garmin has received approval for this interface and all of the available documentation and software are available to the Garmin dealership network today for installation.

-Joey
 
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