Garmin G1000 AFCS

TM

G1000

AFCS Pilot’s Guide for

Beechcraft A36/G36

Record of Revisions

Revision Date of Revision Revision Page Range Description

A
B

07/20/05
07/28/05

9-1 – 9-29
9-1 – 9-29

Initial release
Go Around button description change

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

190-00609-00 Rev. B

INTRODUCTION

9.1 INTRODUCTION

pitch, roll, and pitch trim GSA 81 servos and provides:

NOTE: This Pilot’s Guide assumes that the reader
is already familiar with the G1000 Integrated
Cockpit System. Refer to the G1000 Cockpit
Reference Guide and G1000 Pilot’s Guides
for further information concerning the G1000
system.

IMPORTANT: The information contained in this
guide is always superseded by the approved
Airplane Flight Manual Supplement.

AFCS OVERVIEW

The GFC 700 is a digital Automatic Flight Control Sys­tem (AFCS) which is fully integrated within the G1000
system avionics architecture. The System Overview locat­ed near the front of this binder provides a block diagram
to support this system description. The GFC 700 AFCS is
made up of the following Line Replaceable Units (LRUs):

• GDU

• GDU 1043 Multi-Function Display (MFD)

• GIA 63 Integrated Avionics Units (2)

• GSA

• GSM 85 Servo Mounts (4)

The GFC 700 AFCS system can be divided into three
main operating functions:

1040 Primary Flight Display (PFD)

81 Servos (4)

the GSA 81 yaw servo and includes self monitoring.

GIA 63 Integrated Avionics Units

trols the Flight Director. During normal operation, the
GRS 77 AHRS and GDC 74A Air Data Computer send
attitude and air data information to the GIA 63s. This
information, combined with GPS and other system data,
is used by the Flight Director and Autopilot. Flight Direc­tor commands are calculated within the #1 GIA 63 and
are sent to the PFD for display and mode annunciation.
Flight information is also sent to the GSA 81 servos for
Autopilot operation. A GIA #1 failure results in the loss
of the AFCS system. Any GIA 63 failure results in loss of
the Autopilot, Manual Electric Trim, and the Yaw Damper
functions.

Autopilot — Autopilot operation occurs within the

• Automatic Flight Control

• Servo Monitoring

Yaw Damper — Yaw damper operation is provided by

Each GIA 63 contains the AFCS software which con-

Flight Director — Flight Director operation takes
place within the #1 GIA 63 and the GDU 1040 PFD. The
Flight Director provides the system with:

• Command Bars showing Pitch/Roll Guidance

• Pitch/Roll Mode Selection & Processing

• Autopilot Communication

190-00609-00 Rev. B

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

9-1

INTRODUCTION

GSA 81 AFCS Servos (4)

Four GSA 81 servos are used for automatic control of
the aircraft flight control surfaces. One servo is used for
the each of the following:

• Pitch

• Roll

• Pitch Trim

• Yaw

Each servo moves its respective aircraft control surface
in response to commands generated by internal servo cal

­culations. For pitch trim, the servo positions the aircraft
pitch trim surface in response to commands generated
by automatic and manual electric pitch trim calculations.
Calculations are performed using data sent through the
common serial data bus from the GIA 63. Manual electric
pitch trim is also provided in response to the Manual Elec­tric Trim (

MET) switch.

GSM 85 Servo Mounts (4)

The GSM 85 servo mounts are used to connect the
servos to the aircraft control system. They contain a spi­ral capstan which connects via a bridle cable to the main
aircraft control cables. There is also a slip clutch to limit
overpower forces in the unlikely event of a mechanical
jam. An engage clutch is used to disconnect the capstan

from the servo when the AFCS is disengaged.

Dedicated AFCS Controls

Refer to Figure 2.3.1 located in the System Overview.
The GDU 1043 MFD has the following dedicated AFCS
keys located on the lower left side of the bezel:

• AP Key

– Engages/disengages the Autopilot

• FD Key – Activates/deactivates the Flight Director
only

Pressing the

FD key turns on the Flight Direc­tor in the default vertical and lateral modes.
Pressing the

FD key again deactivates the
Flight Director and removes the command
bars, unless the Autopilot is engaged. If the
Autopilot is engaged, the FD key is disabled.

• NAV Key

• ALT Key

– Selects/deselects the Navigation mode

– Selects/deselects the Altitude Hold

mode

• VS Key – Selects/deselects the Vertical Speed
mode

• FLC Key

– Selects/deselects the Flight Level

Change mode

• YD Key

• HDG Key

– Engages/disengages the Yaw Damper

– Selects/deselects the Heading Select

mode

• APR Key – Selects/deselects the Approach mode

• NOSE UP/NOSE DN Keys – Controls the active

pitch reference for the Pitch Hold, Vertical Speed,
and Flight Level Change modes

9-2

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

190-00609-00 Rev. B

INTRODUCTION

Additional AFCS Controls

The following buttons and switches used by the AFCS
are located in the cockpit separately from the PFD and
MFD:

• AP DISC (Autopilot Disconnect) Button —
Disengages the Autopilot and Yaw Damper and
interrupts pitch trim operation

This button may be used to mute the aural

alert associated with an Autopilot discon­nect. The AP DISC button is colored red
and is located forward of the MET switch on
the pilot’s control wheel left grip. The AP
DISC button mutes AP disconnect alerting
if pressed during an alert. The

MET ARM
switch may also be used to cancel AP discon­nect alerting.

• CWS (Control Wheel Steering) Button —
Momentarily disengages the Autopilot and
synchronizes the Flight Director’s command bars
to the current aircraft attitude

• MET (Manual Electric Trim) Switch — Used
to command Manual Electric Pitch Trim

This switch is a composite switch, split into

left and right switches, on the left grip of the
pilot’s control wheel. The right switch is the
ARM contact and the left switch controls the
DN (forward) and UP (rearward) contacts.
Pressing the ARM switch disengages the
Autopilot, if currently engaged, but does not
affect Yaw Damper operation. Manual trim
commands are generated only when both
sides of the switch are operated simultane­ously. If one side of the switch is active for
more than three seconds without the other
side also being active, the trim switches are
ignored until both switches (ARM, UP/DN)
are inactive. This condition is annunciated as
‘PTRM’ in the AFCS System Status field on the
PFD.

• GA (Go Around) Button — Disengages the

190-00609-00 Rev. B

The CWS button is located on top of the right

grip of the pilot’s control wheel. Upon release
of the CWS button, the Flight Director may
establish new reference points, depending
on the current pitch and roll modes. CWS
operation details are discussed in the respec

-

tive mode sections of this manual.

Autopilot and selects the Go Around pitch and
roll modes on the Flight Director

The

GA button is located in the throttle

handle.

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

9-3

INTRODUCTION

9-4

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Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

190-00609-00 Rev. B

FD OPERATION

9.2 FLIGHT DIRECTOR OPERATION

The Flight Director function provides pitch and roll
commands to the AFCS system and displays them on the
PFD. With the Flight Director activated, the pilot can
hand-fly the aircraft to follow the path shown by the com­mand bars. The Flight Director, when engaged, also pro­vides the commands to the Autopilot.

Active Mode

Armed Mode

Roll Axis Modes

System Status Field
(See Annunciations &
Alerts Pilot’s Guide)

Yaw Damper Status

Autopilot Status

Active Mode

AFCS Status Bar

Activating the Flight Director

Pressing the FD key or AP key (when FD is not active)
activates the Flight Director in default pitch/roll modes.
Pressing the GA button, or any other Fight Director mode
key activates the Flight Director in the respective mode(s).
When active, the Flight Director may be turned off by
pressing the FD key, if the Autopilot is not engaged.

NOTE: The FD key is disabled when the Autopilot
is engaged.

Mode Reference

Armed Mode

Pitch Axis Modes

Selected Altitude
Box

Flight Director
Command Bars

190-00609-00 Rev. B

Figure 9.2.1 PFD AFCS Display

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

9-5

FD OPERATION

AFCS Status Bar

Flight Director mode annunciations are displayed on

the PFD, whenever the Flight Director is active. Figure

9.2.1 shows each individual AFCS Status Bar field. Roll
modes are displayed on the left side and pitch modes are
displayed on the right. Armed modes are displayed in
white and active modes are displayed in green. Refer to
Section 9.3 for Flight Director mode information.

Command Bars

Upon activation, the Flight Director displays command
bars on the PFD. Figure 9.2.2 shows the command bars.
The command bars move together vertically to indicate
pitch commands, and will bank left or right to indicate
roll commands. If the attitude information being sent to
the Flight Director becomes invalid or unavailable, the
command bars are removed from the display.

9-6

Figure 9.2.2 Command Bars

Flight Director Limitations

The maximum commanded pitch and roll attitudes
are limited to values established during AFCS certifica­tion. Maximum commanded pitch and roll rates are also
limited. Pitch commands are limited to 20 degrees nose
up and 15 degrees nose down. Roll commands are lim­ited to 22 degrees of bank and a 5 degrees/second bank
rate. Limits may be different from these values in certain
modes, as noted in the section for the mode operation.

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

190-00609-00 Rev. B

FD MODES

9.3 FLIGHT DIRECTOR MODES

Flight Director modes are normally selected indepen­dently for the pitch and roll axes. Unless otherwise speci
fied, all mode keys are alternate action (i.e. press on, press
off).

PITCH MODES

The GFC 700 AFCS offers the following pitch modes:

• Pitch Hold (default)

• Altitude Hold

• Vertical Speed

• Flight Level Change

• Glideslope

• Go Around

Table 9.3.1 equates each pitch mode to the respective
key or switch, and gives accompanying mode annuncia
tions. Mode annunciations for pitch modes are shown in
green during normal operation.

Mode

Key

{default} Pitch Hold PIT

ALT Altitude Hold ALT FT nnnnn

VS Vertical Speed VS FPM nnnn

Pitch

Mode

Annunciation

Window

-

-

Overspeed Protection

While Vertical Speed, Flight Level Change, or default
Pitch Hold modes are selected, airspeed is monitored by
the Flight Director. In these modes, pitch commands
are limited to provide overspeed protection. Overspeed
protection occurs in situations where the Flight Director
cannot acquire and maintain the pitch mode reference for
the selected pitch mode without exceeding the certified
maximum Autopilot airspeed.

When in overspeed mode, the airspeed reference box
appears above the airspeed tape, flashing alternatively be­tween the annunciations depicted in the figure below:

Figure 9.3.1 Overspeed Annunciations

When an Autopilot overspeed warning occurs, the pi­lot should reduce engine power and/or adjust the pitch
reference to slow the aircraft. When the overspeed con­dition is resolved, the annunciation disappears and the
previous pitch mode resumes control.

GO AROUND Go Around GA

190-00609-00 Rev. B

FLC Flight Level Change FLC KT nnn

APR Glideslope GS

Table 9.3.1 Pitch Modes

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

9-7

FD MODES

Pitch Hold Mode (PIT)

When the Flight Director is activated (the FD key is
pressed), Pitch Hold is selected by default. Pitch Hold
mode is indicated by the annunciation ‘PIT’ appearing in
the active pitch mode field in green. In Pitch Hold mode,
the Flight Director maintains a constant pitch attitude,
known as a pitch reference. The pitch reference conforms
to the aircraft attitude at the moment of engagement.

Pitch Hold mode is active

Changing the Pitch Reference

When operating in Pitch Hold mode, the pilot can ad

­just the pitch reference using the NOSE UP/NOSE DN
keys in 0.5-degree increments. Flight Director pitch ref­erence can also be changed by pressing the CWS button,
hand-flying the aircraft to establish a new pitch reference,
then releasing the CWS button.

Altitude Hold mode is armed

9-8

Flight Director
command bars
maintain desired
pitch reference

Figure 9.3.2 Pitch Hold Mode

Garmin G1000 AFCS Pilot’s Guide for Beechcraft A36/G36

190-00609-00 Rev. B