Garmin Announces Retrofit Approval for Airbus H130 Helicopters

Garmin announces upcoming retrofit certification of GFC 600H flight
control system for Airbus H130 helicopters
Revolutionary helicopter flight control system will bring advanced safety features to H130
owners and operators
OLATHE, Kan./March 5, 2025/PR Newswire – Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) today announced upcoming
Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval of the GFC™ 600H Helicopter Flight Control System for
retrofit in Airbus H130 helicopters, providing operators with an advanced flight control solution that
reduces pilot workload and improves mission effectiveness. The GFC 600H provides a number of
helicopter-tailored features, including attitude hold with speed stability, the innovative hover assist
mode, Garmin Helicopter Electronic Stability and Protection (H-ESP™), dedicated return-to-level (LVL)
mode, as well as overspeed and low-speed protection, and more.
“We are very excited to bring the highly capable GFC 600H to Airbus H130 owners and operators. This
flight control system can significantly reduce inflight workload while also providing many advanced and
safety-minded capabilities to better assist pilots in conducting their missions.”
–Carl Wolf, Garmin Vice President of Aviation Sales and Marketing
The GFC 600H features a console-mounted mode controller with push-button controls and a night
vision goggle (NVG) compatible display. Integrated smart servos provide pitch and roll inputs as
commanded by the system, while the collective sensor adds proactive commands to provide smoother,
more predictable flight control adjustments when the pilot moves the collective. Digitally controlled,
high-performance servos allow for faster, crisper, more powerful response, which enables the
GFC 600H to perform with smooth efficiency and advanced capability.
Innovative hover assist mode can automatically detect a hover condition and also allows for flight
control inputs to help maintain position over the ground. In addition, with the yaw axis control, the GFC
600H can maintain position over the ground and hold heading in hover. With the GFC 600H in H130
helicopters, aircraft navigation works in conjunction with the G500H TXi™ and GTN™ Xi to automatically
fly approaches, providing en route navigation guidance and fully coupled missed approach procedures
including holds, as well as search and rescue patterns.
“This innovative autopilot further extends the outstanding operational capabilities of the H130, offering
advanced stability and precise control for safer, more efficient and more productive missions.”
–Jerome Ronssin, Head of Light Helicopters Program at Airbus Helicopters
The advanced attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) technology and redundant, cross-
checking sensors of the GFC 600H support smooth handling throughout the flight envelope. Further,
attitude retention mode reduces pilot workload by maintaining a specified attitude, while providing
inputs to help stabilize the helicopter when hand-flying. Designed with the pilot in mind, the GFC 600H
incorporates cyclic-mounted trim controls to allow for seamless control of the system without taking a
hand off of the flight controls during basic operations. Additional modes include altitude hold, altitude
select, vertical speed, indicated airspeed and heading select.
The GFC 600H offers safety-enhancing features, including overspeed protection and low-speed
protection as well as Garmin H-ESP that can help the pilot remain within a safe flight envelope when
hand-flying the helicopter. H-ESP works in all modes – even when the system is not engaged – and
can be manually disabled to allow for maneuvering flight. A dedicated LVL button is included on the
GFC 600H and can be engaged by the pilot to return to straight-and-level flight, helping to avoid
potential disorientation in degraded visual environments (DVE), such as inadvertent entry into
instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). With low altitude protection, the GFC 600H provides
alerting and an automatic pitch mode change to assist the pilot in recovery to safe altitude.
Retrofit availability of GFC 600H for the Airbus H130 and EC130 T2 is expected in Q2 2025. The
GFC 600H will also be available as the factory-installed option in new Airbus H130 helicopters.