Big-tire IFR

Rarely would you expect one of these airplanes to have world-class IFR avionics helping to guide the pilot through the clouds—three-axis digital autopilot engaged—and fully capable of executing coupled instrument approaches to any airport with a published procedure.

Your AOPA Sweepstakes Aviat Husky can do both. The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF)—the first operator of N52RF—and Aviat optioned the airplane with a Garmin digital panel including a G500 TXi touchscreen primary flight display/multifunction display with engine indication system, a GTN 750Xi GPS navigator with nav/com, a GFC 500 autopilot, a G5 backup attitude indicator, and a GTX 345R ADS-B In/Out remote transponder.

The Garmin system includes many impressive safety features. When a pilot is hand flying, the electronic stability and protection (ESP) system uses the autopilot’s servos to keep the airplane within predetermined pitch, roll, and airspeed parameters—potentially helping a distracted pilot avoid an unintentional “moose stall.” ESP can be turned off to enable the steeper banks and lower airspeeds sometimes required during grass runway and backcountry operations. If a pilot gets disoriented for any reason, they can press the blue “LVL” button on the autopilot to return the airplane to straight and level flight. And in the unlikely event of a loss of power, a press of the smart glide button prompts the navigator and autopilot to automatically set best glide speed and aim the Husky toward the nearest airport.

To help the sweepstakes winner make the best weather decisions in flight, AOPA installed SiriusXM aviation weather. When you’re cruising along, you can enjoy more than 150 channels of SiriusXM entertainment.

The AOPA Sweepstakes Aviat Husky will be on display at the AOPA Fly-In at the Buckeye Air Fair, February 13 through 15 in Buckeye, Arizona (BXK). Stop by and check out its amazingly capable avionics. A lucky pilot will win this adventure-anywhere airplane next summer; it might be you.

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