As of March 1st, Garmin released ver. 6.11 main software for the GTN 650. The most impressive new feature for me is the ability to input holding patterns at any waypoint on your flight plan.
Pop down to your local Garmin dealer and get this done, it should be free but you might get charged for 1 man hour according to the S.B. All that is involved is to insert the SD card into the database slot and power it up. Takes about 10 minutes max. Configuration settings should not be an issue in most cases, but always a good idea to have those well documented just in case.
Got a chance to fly it today in my RV-6 and it works just as advertised. I put in a holding pattern on a fix in the flight plan and watched the autopilot fly to it, execute the correct entry and then watched it fly a couple of circuits. Neat! You just touch the waypoint in the flight plan and a Hold page pops up that allows you to select all of the holding parameters: inbound course, left or right turn, minutes or distance for the legs, and it even gives you a Preview button. Any of the parameters can be edited at any time if ATC changes anything. The holding pattern display on the Map page will show you ahead of time what entry procedure will be flown, the hold turns to magenta just before you enter it, indicating the next leg in the flight plan. Pretty cool stuff.
Pop down to your local Garmin dealer and get this done, it should be free but you might get charged for 1 man hour according to the S.B. All that is involved is to insert the SD card into the database slot and power it up. Takes about 10 minutes max. Configuration settings should not be an issue in most cases, but always a good idea to have those well documented just in case.
Got a chance to fly it today in my RV-6 and it works just as advertised. I put in a holding pattern on a fix in the flight plan and watched the autopilot fly to it, execute the correct entry and then watched it fly a couple of circuits. Neat! You just touch the waypoint in the flight plan and a Hold page pops up that allows you to select all of the holding parameters: inbound course, left or right turn, minutes or distance for the legs, and it even gives you a Preview button. Any of the parameters can be edited at any time if ATC changes anything. The holding pattern display on the Map page will show you ahead of time what entry procedure will be flown, the hold turns to magenta just before you enter it, indicating the next leg in the flight plan. Pretty cool stuff.
