My son Tigre and I had the opportunity to fly Garmin's Auto Throttle / Auto Land test bed King Air today. I'll have more detail in my upcoming Twin & Turbine article, however here is some information. This is the first twin engine implementation of their technology and it is amazing, as well as having great potential for Citations, and other multi-engine aircraft.
The King Air base platform is several decades old, yet upgraded with the Garmin NXi and their new technology greatly advances the platform. Of course I then thought about the Mustang NXi implementation - which is some ways might be easier than the King Air. It requires the latest version of NXi hardware as a base.
The auto throttle capability was extremely smooth, from takeoff to touch-down (with the auto land of course). Even when 'failing' one engine it was useful adding power as well as using the OEI/ESP (one engine inoperative/electronic stability protection) to enhance safety when manually flying the airplane single engine.
The Auto Land, which I've written on before, was dirt simple. Push the activate button and after a dwell period (to give you time to cancel) start the automated process. I crossed my arms and watched, and Tigre filmed the process. The descent and approach was extremely precise. At 45 feet the throttles fully retarded. Over the runway with crosswind, the left wing dipped slightly for wind compensation, the King Air flared with a pretty smooth landing and came to a complete stop.
With the technology in the MustanG NXi planes, as well as the M2 and the CJ3+, they seem like a perfect platform if the potential installations justify the research. It will be in an upcoming release of the Honda Jet.
After teaching Pinch Hitter courses for many years, I can see putting one slide up on the screen - the button.
Look for our complete article in a future Twin & Turbine issue!