industry Touchscreen Avionics: Training Required FAA Operational Suitability Report on Garmin’s GTN Series S T O R Y B Y J O H N D . R U L E Y I n the September issue of Avionics News, Scott Spangler warned that allocating 30 minutes for training is not sufficient for modern digital avionics. In at least one case, it’s now clear that the Federal Aviation Administration agrees. Several months ago, the FAA’s flight standardization board published a draft operational suitability report on Garmin’s GTN 650/750 series navigators. That OSR covered aircraft requiring a type rating and was followed by another covering aircraft “not requiring a pilot type rating or those aircraft operating under a special federal aviation regulation.” The OSRs provide guidelines for commercial operators, including flight instructors and other training providers operating under 14 CFR LEFT: Graphical routing is a major new feature of the GTN series, as shown in this screenshot from Garmin’s PC-based GTN Trainer. In this case, a direct route has been changed to follow an airway. 36 avionics news • january 2012