Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

In October 2020, Garmin introduced touchscreen control for the first time to its D2 aviation watch series, with the D2 Air sporting an Amoled touch display. Now the top-of-the-line D2 comes in a touchscreen version, the D2 Mach 1, with all the previous moving-map, HSI, and health features of the D2 Delta. Garmin introduced the new watch at Monday’s new product introductions session at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in New Orleans.

 


The addition of the D2 Mach 1 furthers the split of the Garmin watch lineup into two distinct feature sets. The D2 Air costs about half as much and doesn’t have the moving map but includes many of the features that pilots like while offering a simpler interface with fewer buttons, and it also includes a pulse-oximeter. The D2 Mach 1 carries on the five-button interface of the D2 Delta aviation watches but adds the touchscreen display and some other useful new features, which makes accessing information on the moving map much simpler.

 


Pilots can, for example, tap on a waypoint to see more information;&nbsp;view Nexrad radar imagery overlaid on a route;&nbsp;upload flight plans from the Garmin Pilot app to the watch; set aviation alerts;&nbsp;view airport information including wind components, Metars, TAFs, graphical MOS reports;&nbsp;and set notifications, for example, when weather conditions change at the destination airport. Garmin added glide features to help in an emergency, with best glide speed and estimated glide distance and time, bearing pointer to nearest airport, and a list of alternate airports. All the D2 watches can log flights and transfer date, duration, total flight time, and route to flyGarmin online logbooks.

 


Non-aviation features of the D2 Mach 1 include downloading up to 650 songs, contactless payments using Garmin Pay, smart notifications for iOS and Android phones, and pairing with a Garmin inReach device for sending preset messages, toggling tracking, or sending an SOS message for emergency response via Garmin’s emergency response coordination center.

 


Featuring a 1.3-inch Amoled touchscreen display, the D2 Mach 1 retails for $1,299.99 with a vented titanium bracelet or $1,199.99 with a leather band. Battery life is up to 11 days in smartwatch mode or 24 hours using GPS and pulse oximeter.

Garmin Adds Touchscreen to Topline Aviator Watch

Garmin's new D2 Mach 1 watch adds a touchscreen and new functions such as information about glide distance and time.

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