Garmin has recently been making watches for just about every sport there is, and now it has just released details of a GPS ‘smart’ watch for pilots.
The GPS-enabled D2 will have similar capability to Garmin’s portable aviation units, so it will feature a worldwide aviation database with dedicated buttons for direct-to and nearest functions, as well as the ability to load flight plans, and create waypoints.
Pilots will be able to customise the watch’s data fields for their type of flying and choose from displays such as GPS ground speed, GPS track, distance, estimated time en route, bearing and glide ratio.
It will include an accurate altimeter with an adjustable barometric setting, an altitude alert feature warning of altitude deviations, plus a compass with an HSI, and basic moving map page.
Vibrating alerts can be set up as reminders of operations such as when to switch fuel tanks or any other time sensitive operation en route.
Pilots will also be able to build flight plans and create waypoints within Garmin Pilot on an iPad 3 (or newer), some Android tablets and other compatible devices; uploading the data can be carried out via a Bluetooth connection.
The watch will also be able to remotely control Garmin’s HD action camera, VIRB, to start and stop video, view elapsed time for active video recording, as well as capture high quality still photos.
It is expected to go on sale in November; the price is yet to be announced but should be around $449.
