For those who lost track of the OEM avionics market for turboprops and light jets, Garmin’s G3000 may seem like a new system, but it was actually unveiled at the NBAA convention way back in 2009. The system isn’t limited to Piper’s M600. You’ll find the G3000 in Daher’s TBM930 turboprop single, in Cessna CJ+ series jets and in the Cirrus Vision Jet, currently undergoing certification. There are more applications coming. Textron announced that the G3000 will be in the front office of the Cessna Denali turboprop single. This raises the question: Is the G3000 the replacement for the aging G1000? Garmin says it is not, but it sure looks to have a sizable presence in the lower end of the Part 23 turbine market, a space that was partially occupied by various versions of the G1000.
The G3000 was designed out of the gate as a three-screen touch suite (two PFDs and one MFD, with full reversionary backup), presumably answering the call for something a bit more modern for aircraft with multi-million dollar price tags. For certain, the G3000 suite has an unmistakable big-airplane feel, even when its big screens are powered down. Each of those three landscape-configured screens measure 14.1 inches diagonally (with a 16:9 width-to-height ratio), which is considerably larger than the screens in a G1000 suite. Screen resolution, at 1280 by 800 pixels, is notably better than the G1000.