Garmin Introduces Touchscreen aera Series

Garmin International, a unit of Garmin, a provider of satellite navigation, announced the aera, Garmin's newest aviation handheld series that is touchscreen and multi-mode so that it can transition between aviation to automotive mode with one touch.

The aera series includes four different models: aera 500, aera 510, aera 550, and aera 560. The aera product line will be on display and available for purchase for the first time at the Aircraft Owners Pilot Association (AOPA) Summit in Tampa, Florida, through November 7.

"Customers who use Garmin products in their plane and car often ask us to create an all-in-one GPS that combines our aviation expertise with the operational simplicity and clean exterior design of our automotive devices," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing. "Since Garmin is vertically integrated and we do nearly everything in-house, we were able to meet our customers' requests by leveraging the best features of our consumer and aviation technologies. The aera series will appeal to those who need a low cost aviation handheld that is so simple to use that many will never have to crack open the manual."

The aera series has a 4.3 inch QVGA sunlight readable touchscreen display with large, finger-touchable icons. When in aviation mode, pilots are greeted with icons that use pictures and labels to indicate their function: map, weather, terrain, direct to, HSI/panel, active FPL, numbers, nearest, WPT info, position, XM radio, and tools. Pilots can choose any of these functions by simply touching the appropriate icon. For example, after touching the terrain icon, pilots will see terrain and obstacle data that vividly depicts potential hazards.

The aera 510 and aera 560 include a GXM 40 receiver for XM radio and XM WX Satellite Weather that provides NEXRAD weather radar, aviation routine weather reports (METARs), terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs), temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), lightning, winds aloft, turbulence forecasts, PIREPs, icing forecast and several other important weather products.

The aera 550 and area 560 include SafeTaxi and AOPA Airport Directory. SafeTaxi now includes geo-referenced diagrams of over 950 U.S. airports. SafeTaxi identifies runways, taxiways and hangars, as well as the aircraft's exact location on the field. The AOPA Airport Directory data is an electronic version of AOPA's U.S. pilot guide that includes information for over 5,300 public-use airports and more than 7,000 FBOs, such as pilot services, ground transportation, lodging, restaurants, and local attractions. In addition, Garmin's electronic version of the AOPA Airport Directory highlights airports where pilots can save on fuel by using self-service fueling locations.

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