Garmin Intro's MFD Line For LSA, Experimentals This year's Sebring Sport Aviation Expo was a great chance to recharge our sport aviation "batteries" as well as get a chance to look over some great new planes and products. Foremost among those, this year, was Garmin's release of the forthcoming GDU 370/375 -- a NEW series of full function multi-function displays (MFDs) developed for the LSA retrofit and experimental aircraft markets. The non-certified GDU 370 and GDU 375 are based on Garmin's portable GPSMAP 695 and GPSMAP 696, and are designed to be networked with other Garmin products so that in the future the GDU 370 and GDU 375 can provide complete primary flight display (PFD) and MFD capability. The GDU 370 and GDU 375 are large, seven inch, portrait displays designed to be readable day or night. The soft keys at the bottom of the display control the most commonly used features of the current page, such as turning the weather display on/off. The dedicated keys on the display's right side have specific functions such as nearest, direct to, flight plan, zoom in/out and menu. Also on the display's right side is a rotary knob/joystick, similar to the G1000's joystick, that lets pilots enter airport identifiers, pan the map, or scroll to page and sub-page groups. Unlike the GPSMAP 695/696, the GDU 370 and GDU 375 are designed for panel mounting, have redundant power inputs, and a front-mounted SD card slot. The back of the GDU 370 and GDU 375 have connection ports for external GPS and XM antennas, and a 50 pin connector for power/ground and interfaces. Both units are designed to interface with yet to be released Garmin components that will transform the GDU 370 and GDU 375 MFD into a full functioning PFD/MFD avionics panel with primary flight display and engine data. When all components are purchased and interconnected -- GDU 370 and/or GDU 375 display, ADAHRS and EIS, magnetometer and temperature probe -- the system will be known as the Garmin G3X. The GDU 375 includes an XM WX Satellite Weather ...
