Eagle Creek Aviation, a full-service aircraft maintenance and service facility headquartered at Eagle Creek Airport (EYE) in Indianapolis, has begun the installation of the Garmin G5000 integrated flight deck on a fleet of three Citation Excel aircraft owned by First Wing Charter and Management. First Wing Charter and Management is part of the Eagle Creek family of companies.
The major installation includes removing the entire cockpit and wiring throughout the airframe to replace with the Garmin G5000 fully integrated flight deck. The G5000 features bright, high-resolution, touchscreen displays, full WAAS GPS-provided LPV FMS integration, charts, CPDLC, Nexrad Datalink Weather, takeoff and landing data calculations, situational awareness, Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT), SafeTaxi and SurfaceWatch.
“As a Platinum Award-winning Garmin dealer, we have extensive experience with the full line of Garmin avionics products and have become one of the premier service centers in the country to focus on full flight deck installations,” said Scott Dillon, President, Eagle Creek Aviation. “Our trained avionics engineers and technicians are highly skilled in everything from customized panel upgrades to major flight deck overhauls.”
The flight deck installations will be completed concurrently in order to decrease downtime for the charter fleet, which is experiencing record year-over-year growth in number of hours flown. First Wing Charter and Management operates a fleet of numerous Citations, including Sovereign, Excel/XLS and Bravo aircraft.
“We are upgrading our Excel fleet with the G5000 for enhanced safety and reliability,” said Phil Schneider, Director of Operations, First Wing Charter. “Currently, each Excel has different avionics equipment, which makes it difficult for our pilots to transition from aircraft to aircraft. The standardization of the fleet will also improve the training of our pilots across numerous Garmin-based systems and recruit pilots who are experienced with advanced flight decks,” he said.
While the Excels are temporarily out of service, Eagle Creek will perform required inspections and complete additional upgrades to further enhance the fleet. The first Garmin G5000 installation is expected to be completed this fall.
As a leader in aircraft service and upgrades, Eagle Creek Aviation is an award-winning Garmin Service Center, Gogo Business Aviation dealer, multi-year FAA Diamond Award of Excellence recipient and an International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) accredited dealer and broker with nearly four decades of service.
Photos of the G5000 installation in progress
About the Eagle Creek Family of Companies
Founded in 1982, Eagle Creek Aviation Services has grown from a small, but dedicated team of aviation professionals to a nationwide family of aviation companies, covering the entire spectrum of aviation services. From their FBO facility at Eagle Creek Airport, the company offers aircraft sales and acquisitions, maintenance and repairs, and complete avionics and parts support. Eagle Creek Aviation also operates First Wing Jet Center in Zionsville, Ind. that operates the FBOs at the Indianapolis Executive Airport (TYQ) and Frankfort/Clinton County Airport (FKR). Learn out more at FirstWing.com.
