AFMS N°D07 FOR GARMIN GFC700 AUTOPILOT AND VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER EQUIPPED
AEROPLANES
Section 1 – General-
AUTOPILOT FUNCTIONS
13.1 ESP
Garmin GFC 700 is equipped with an envelope protection feature referred as ESP (Electron-
ic Stability & Protection). Electronic Stability and Protection continuously monitors the air-
craft. The system works by applying a correcting force to the controls in order to nudge pilot
to avoid extreme attitudes that may bring the aircraft, if not corrected, to exceed normal fly-
ing envelope.
This software feature aims to provide protection against aircraft operation outside a desired
flight envelope. ESP will maintain the desired operating envelope, defined at autopilot de-
velopment time, by automatically engaging one or more sevos when the aircraft is near the
operating limit and nudging pilot to come back to nominal operating envelope. While ESP
utilizes the same sensors, processors, and actuators as the GFC 700 autopilot, it is basically a
separate function. ESP can be overpowered by the pilot and can be temporarily disabled us-
ing the AP disconnect or CWS switches. It functions independently of the aircraft‘s autopi-
lot system (although it uses the same control servos), so it basically operates ―in back-
ground‖ whenever the pilot is hand-flying the airplane.
The ESP feature will only function with GPS available, A/P MASTER SWITCH ON
(but autopilot not engaged) and aircraft above 200ft AGL.
ESP enabling:
As a standard, ESP will automatically set to enable at power-up.
The system is configured in order to allow the pilot to disable ESP (or re-enable it if previ-
ously disabled after power up) via the AUX – SYSTEM SETTINGS page on MFD.
If ESP has been disabled via MFD, it will automatically be set to ON upon any bat-
tery/power reset.
ESP function uses the same servos that provide autopilot functionality while autopilot is not en-
gaged, as such, if power is cut from these servos both autopilot and ESP functions will be una-
vailable.
Based on the above if ―AUTOPILOT MASTER‖ is set to OFF, power to servos is cut irre-
spectively of their mode of operation (autopilot or ESP).
The pilot can interrupt ESP by pressing and holding either the Control Wheel Steering
(CWS) or Autopilot Disconnect (AP DISC TRIM INTRPT) switch. Upon releasing the
CWS or AP DISC TRIM INTRPT switch, ESP force will again be applied, provided aircraft
attitude and/or airspeed are within their respective engagement limits.
ESP can be enabled or disabled on the AUX-SYSTEM SETUP 2 Page on the MFD.
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