Garmin 2009 Annual Report Download - page 17

$ 323
$ 295
$ 233
$ 246
2009
Aviation revenue
($ in millions)
2008
2007
2006
15
patented฀ aviation฀ panel฀ page,฀ high-resolution฀ terrain,฀ SafeTaxi™
airport฀diagrams฀and฀real-time฀XM฀WX฀Satellite฀Weather.฀The฀aera฀is฀
also฀multi-mode,฀and฀with฀one฀touch,฀it฀can฀transition฀from฀aviation฀
to฀ automotive฀ mode,฀ where฀ customers฀ will฀ see฀ the฀ same฀ “Where฀
to?”฀and฀“View฀Map”฀interface฀found฀on฀our฀automotive฀products.
Continuing to focus on adding safety to the cockpit, Garmin
announced฀and฀certied฀its฀rst฀TAS฀and฀TCAS฀I฀trafc฀systems,฀the฀
GTS฀800,฀820฀and฀850.฀The฀GTS฀series฀gives฀pilots฀the฀most฀accurate฀
picture of the sky by combining active and passive surveillance data
to pinpoint specific traffic threats.
The฀ introduction฀ of฀ the฀ G3000฀ brought฀ touchscreen-controlled฀
avionics฀ to฀ the฀ ightdecks฀ of฀ Part฀ 23฀ turbine฀ aircraft.฀ Announced฀
in฀ October฀ 2009,฀ the฀ G3000฀ has฀ a฀ streamlined฀ user฀ interface฀ that฀
eliminates฀many฀buttons,฀switches฀and฀extraneous฀knobs.฀Pilots฀touch฀
the฀ information฀ they฀ want฀ to฀ change฀ rather฀ than฀ using฀ a฀ cursor.฀
The฀system฀uses฀a฀patent-pending,฀infrared฀touchscreen฀technology,฀
audio฀and฀visual฀feedback,฀and฀animation฀to฀ensure฀pilots฀are฀aware฀
how฀ the฀ system฀ is฀ responding฀ to฀ their฀ input.฀ The฀ G3000’s฀ launch฀
customers฀are฀Honda฀Aircraft฀ and฀ Piper฀ Aircraft฀ with฀ the฀ HondaJet฀
and฀PiperJet,฀respectively.฀
The฀technology฀developed฀for฀products฀like฀the฀G1000,฀G3000฀and฀
GTS฀TAS฀and฀TCAS฀I฀trafc฀systems฀position฀Garmin฀for฀growth฀in฀the฀
business฀jet฀and฀larger฀plane฀markets.฀We฀will฀continue฀to฀look฀for฀
new฀ opportunities฀ to฀ expand฀ upward฀ in฀ the฀ xed-wing฀ market,฀ as฀
well฀as฀look฀at฀other฀markets฀like฀rotorcraft.฀In฀addition,฀we฀will฀continue฀
to฀look฀for฀ways฀to฀bring฀leading฀technologies,฀like฀touchscreen,฀to฀
the฀cockpit฀and฀thereby฀simplify฀pilot฀workload,฀and฀increase฀safety฀
and฀situational฀awareness฀in฀every฀ight.฀
Testimonial
In October 2008, Brian Pyatt from Birmingham, Alabama, decided to take
advantage of a beautiful fall day by going flying in his Piper J-3 Cub. Before
takeoff, he placed his GPSMAP 396 in the front seat, like usual, so that he
could refer to it as needed. It was a perfect day to fly. He was cruising over
a heavily wooded area in rural Alabama at 2,500 feet, the plane’s windows
were open so he could feel the breeze, and the maneuvers he was practicing,
including loops, were going well. In the middle of doing a loop, he pulled
the power back and his 396 unexpectedly “jumped out of the aircraft like a
cat jumping out of a hot car, and the XM antenna was trailing like a tail.”
“I watched it fall out of the plane like it was in slow motion,” said Pyatt. It
landed in the heavily wooded area below. He couldn’t see it from his altitude,
and he gave it up for lost. A few weeks later, he ordered another 396.
According to him, “I thought about upgrading to a 496, but I wasn’t going
to reward stupidity.”
Fast forward to June 2009. He answered his phone and heard a little girl say,
“I found your GPS.” At first he thought a buddy was pulling a prank, but
then the girl’s father confirmed that they had found the 396 in the woods.
Pyatt had labeled his GPS with his name and number, and that’s how the girl
knew who to call. The father continued to say that when he pressed the 396’s
power button, it turned on immediately and showed a screen that said it had
last acquired signal in October 2008. The 396 went through heat, humidity,
rain, sleet, and snow. It’s a little dirty from its eight months in the elements,
but it still works. According to Pyatt, “Now I have two 396s. I wish I would’ve
upgraded to the 496!”