2016 Sun ‘N Fun Fly-In and Expo Opens in Florida

The aptly named Sun ‘N Fun Fly-In and Expo, a gathering of pilots and aviation enthusiasts in Lakeland, Florida each spring, kicked off today with warm weather and blue skies in the sunshine state. As one of the early season shows, we had a chance to show off our newest and coolest 2016 products, including the GTX 345 all-in-one ADS-B transponder, G5 electronic flight instrument, GMA 245 audio panel and the portable aera 660.

Early in the day, our friends at Cessna Aircraft Company announced Garmin as a key sponsor for the 2016 Top Hawk program. In this program, Cessna selects four aviation universities each year, and provides them a custom branded Cessna Skyhawk aircraft for use in the university’s flight training and promotional activities. We will provide a G1000 database subscription, GDL 39 ADS-B receiver, Garmin Pilot subscription and VIRB XE action camera for the aircraft.

It was also announced that we are teaming with Cessna to provide student pilots who sign up for the Cessna Flight Training System through the Cessna Pilot Center network a one-year Garmin Pilot subscription. The Cessna Pilot Center network has been in place for 46 years, includes 150 flight school worldwide, and can train pilots about 30 percent faster than the national average.

There was never a dull moment in our booth, located in Hangar D, with lots of excitement surrounding our new products. Many of our other popular avionics, including the GTN 750/650 series touchscreen navigators and G3X Touch experimental flight displays, garnered a lot of great attention. Plus our hourly seminars covering topics such as Garmin Pilot, ADS-B solutions, aviation portables, and upgrade/experimental avionics attracted customers looking to gain more knowledge about our broad product line. If you’re attending the show tomorrow (Wednesday, April 6), be sure to stop by the Hangar D booth at 12:15 to visit with airshow and Red Bull Air Race pilot Michael Goulian. He uses G3X Touch in his aircraft and will briefly discuss flying with it in our 1:00pm seminar. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest show updates.