Garmin has revealed the G500H, an all-glass avionics system designed specifically for the VFR Part 27 helicopter market. The G500H is a derivative of the G600 and G500 for the fixed-wing market, yet the G500H has been optimized for rotorcraft and offers features like helicopter synthetic vision technology (HSVT(TM)), helicopter-specific databases with over 7,000 heliports and nearly 30,000 additional low-altitude obstacles, XM WX Satellite Weather with NEXRAD, and the ability to display video from a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera or other video sources.

"FAA reports have indicated that the three main areas of operational risks for helicopters are inadvertent flight into IMC, night operations and controlled flight into terrain," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing. "The G500H was designed to proactively address these issues and help reduce situational risk and the challenges that come from a busier airspace. We're serious about safety and we believe our new helicopter products will help make flying safer."