If you have ever looked at a terminal procedure for a particular airport and wished it came with a secret decoder ring, Garmin may have a solution for you.
Garmin SmartCharts is described by the company as a “charting solution that will provide pilots with a simplified and intuitive experience by producing clear and relevant data to depict a chart tailored for their specific flight operation.”
According to the company, SmartCharts is initially available in the Garmin Pilot app. Designed to optimize pilot workflow, SmartCharts can be tailored to provide only relevant data during particular operations, thereby reducing pilot workload and unnecessary distractions.
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The user selects aircraft type, arrival/departure/approach transition fix, runway, and more—and the app does the rest to simplify the chart down to the information that they need to see to successfully brief and fly that procedure.
“Terminal procedures have long been cluttered with outdated or superfluous information that may not be relevant to a pilot’s flight, obscuring important details that could be easily missed,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director of aviation. “Garmin SmartCharts allows all pilots to quickly and easily tailor procedures to highlight the most relevant and key information in a simplified, optimized format to ultimately help to enhance safety and situational awareness.”
Garmin said SmartCharts offers instrument approaches, departures (SIDs), arrivals (STARs), and airport diagrams.
STARs and SIDs
Starting with standard terminal arrivals (STARs) and standard instrument departures (SIDs), the user selects their aircraft type, the route transition they are flying, and the runway of intended use.
SmartCharts procedures automatically adjust and scale as the pilot zooms and pans within the chart, similar to the way they interact with Garmin’s maps. SmartCharts highlight details and notes that can be inadvertently overlooked on traditional charts—sometimes with disastrous results.
Garmin said the ability to scale the chart creates a clearer picture of the information needed to fly instrument procedures. The digitized data enables for adjustments to minima—and to calculate them automatically rather than forcing an already-task-satuated pilot to perform mental math. This data is also used to create new “Brief” tabs, which show optimized briefing information presented when pilots need it during procedure reviews.
During an approach procedure, the approach minima are updated and presented to the pilot via easy selection buttons for aircraft category, approach type (for example ILS, LOC, LPV, LNAV, etc.) and other adjustments like local or other altimeter settings, inoperative airport lighting, flight director or HUD (Heads Up Display) use.
In addition, waypoints, legs, crossing restrictions, and other details are then more clearly depicted on the chart to make it easier for users to make selections and adjustments. This removes unnecessary information from view, leaving the user with a single route that can reduce the chance for errors.
Easier Pilot Briefing
After making selections on the chart, a simplified user interface allows for push-button ease of briefing as pressing the “Brief,” “COMs,” and “Missed Approach” buttons on each procedure will quickly bring up the necessary information.
Quick Change
If the pilot needs to select a new transition or switch to a different runway, SmartChart makes rebriefing the changes much quicker for better situational awareness.
Also, altitude and speed restrictions and other approach-pertinent details are depicted on the SmartCharts plan view of approach, arrival, and departure procedures.
Garmin points out that, in a first for the industry, the approach vertical profile view is geo-referenced with the aircraft appearing on the profile at its altitude, which should increase a pilot’s situational awareness. This feature gives a pilot a better mental image of the aircraft position relative to the approach path, terrain and obstacles.
Looking for Lowest Minima
When the weather is low and so is your fuel, the last thing you want to do is fumble through approaches trying to find the nearest one with the lowest minima. Garmin SmartCharts includes a “Show with Minima” procedure sorting feature that helps pilots find this important information more easily.
Pilots can sort approaches by criteria, such as lowest altitude or visibility minimums or available approach lighting. Additionally, the most recently released Smart Binders group the charts by type—approach, departure, arrival, or airport info—to make it easier for the pilot to find an approach that is aircraft and hardware specific.
Details
SmartCharts is available via a Garmin Pilot premium subscription for iOS devices in the United States and the Bahamas at launch.
Company officials note pilots can access SmartCharts as part of its premium plan. Pilots on the standard plan are eligible for a free upgrade to premium through August 31. Additionally, all pilots can now receive a 30-day free trial regardless of whether they’ve used a free trial before.
You can take advantage of a free trial available at Garmin.com/Aviation/.
To learn more, including how to use SmartCharts from chock-to-chock during operation, visit Garmin.com/SmartCharts.
