Daily Archives: 2021-09-06

The Garmin Flight Stream 210 Bluetooth interface has been available for many year’s however not that many know that this unit may be installed and connected to an older device such as the Garmin GNS430W COM/NAV/GPS.  The FS210 enables flight plan transfer between the GNS430W and a portable device with the Garmin Pilot software package. The FS210 has a built in AHRS (attitude heading reference) and the aircraft’s attitude may be displayed in the Garmin Pilot application. The FS210 does not have the capability to update any databases and if you have a Garmin GTN series navigator we recommend the Garmin Flight Stream FS510 that contains both Bluetooth and WiFI (for database updates). The FS510 simply slides into the SD card slot located in the front panel of every GTN series navigator making the physical installation very simple. The FS210 may also be interfaced with legacy Garmin G1000 systems (GDU display unit software version 15.00 and above)

In this case the customers existing GPS KLN89B basically was out of service and the aircraft already had a King KX165A 8.33kHz COM/NAV and a Trig TT31 Mode-S transponder. The most affordable solution was to replace the KL89B for a Garmin GPS175 in the same location. In this particular case the installation was limited to VFR only since the annunciator/relay unit does not support glide slope which is required for a full IFR installation. The GPS175 was also connected to the TT31 transponder for ADS-B out. The GPS175 has a built in Bluetooth interface  that enables the pilot to send and received flight plans via the Garmin Pilot software for portable devices such as an Ipad.