I was watching popular YouTube aviation vlogger, Kevin Thronton – aka, 310Pilot – the other day, and he made a great point about the ongoing challenges of owning a “classic” airplane: “You’re always in a constate state of refurbishing the aircraft.”

His 310Q was built in 1973, which is the time when most of the aircraft in today’s GA fleet left their respective factories. So that means pretty much everything is a “classic” today. Which leaves most owners to deal with some problem or another.

Some of the most frequent and annoying squawks I hear all the time are issues with the legacy mechanical instruments – attitude, altimeters, airspeed, VSIs, turn-and-bank indicators – you get the picture. It’s especially problematic if it’s vacuum driven.

While these instruments are pretty simple in their functionality, they’re not easy, or inexpensive, to repair or replace. But that’s all changed.

Garmin’s amazing new GI 275, touchscreen electronic flight instruments (EFIs) have revolutionized the three and an eighth inch (3.125”) instrument space. Now, one digital instrument can take the place of so many of the round dials in your panel.

When connected to compatible inputs, the GI 275 can act as pretty much anything in the typical six-pack, including an attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, altimeter, VSI, CDI, DG, HSI, or even an engine instrument(s) display.

And, thanks to the combination of advanced electronics and a high-resolution LCD, the GI 275 EFIs don’t just replace mechanical instruments; they can deliver an incredible array of advanced functions into that same 3.125” space.

For example, when it has the optional ADAHRS and autopilot interface, the GI 275 can provide accurate and reliable attitude information to the new Garmin GFC 500, as well as many legacy autopilots.

Also, when it’s interfaced with a Garmin GPS navigator or other compatible input sources, the GI 275 can also display weather, traffic, terrain, synthetic vision, and more – all in that same small space, and with no alterations to the panel itself.

Garmin’s advanced touchscreen functionality combined with softkey controls make all the capabilities easy to access and operate. Some configurations do have knobs for some functions, but most of the underlying capabilities are accessed through the familiar touch-and-swipe functions on the GI 275.

All-in-all, the GI 275 Electronic Flight Instrument does things that just aren’t possible with legacy mechanical instruments. And one of the most advantageous is they deliver all their excellent capabilities in a package that’s thousands of hours more reliable than the instruments they replace.

If you have any questions on the incredible Garmin GI 275 EFIs, give me a call at 863.709.9714 (x 112), and I’ll be happy to introduce you to the future.

Until next time, fly safely and have fun,

Matt