Garmin designed Smart Glide to help pilots deal with engine failures by recommending a suitable nearby airport and engaging the autopilot to fly to that airport at the appropriate glide airspeed. The Smart Glide upgrade, the newest member of Garmin’s Autonomi family of safety products, is free for owners of compatible avionics, although there may be a dealer fee for installation of the software.
The key benefit of Smart Glide is to allow the pilot to concentrate on dealing with the engine problem and the resulting emergency situation. While running the engine-failure checklist, for example, the pilot doesn’t have to focus on finding the nearest airport. Even if there is no suitable airport within gliding distance, Smart Glide can still use the Garmin autopilot to adjust the attitude for best glide speed and then during the off-airport approach and touchdown gives the pilot audible alerts about the airplane’s altitude above the ground.
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