Lilium, developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, announced today that it has received the first set of standby flight instruments from Garmin, a leading provider of avionics solutions. The deliveries, which follow the multi-year supplier contract signed by Lilium and Garmin in 2023, will be integrated into the first Lilium Jets being produced and the Lilium Jet flight simulator, used for pilot training.
In aviation parlance, standby instrumentation is intended to serve as a backup display in case of a failure of the primary cockpit instrumentation. As such, the component supplied by Garmin represents a key safety feature of the Lilium Jet and will provide an additional layer of protection for crew and passengers. This redundancy will help pave the Lilium Jet’s path to dual type-certification by the FAA and EASA.
Garmin is a leading provider of avionics solutions for general aviation, business aviation, rotorcraft, advanced air mobility, government and defense, and commercial air carrier customers, and has several decades of experience in meeting the highest aviation certification standards. The standby flight instrument supplied by Garmin, which is already in use on thousands of certified aircraft, will be integrated into the Lilium Jet’s cockpit and will interface with the jet’s flight control computer, providing inertial sensor data (e.g. attitude, acceleration, etc.) and additional key outputs to the flight control system, as well as serving as a modern, touchscreen flight display that works independently of the primary avionics system.
Martin Schuebel, Lilium Senior Vice President Procurement said: “Our decision to collaborate with Garmin on this critical system followed an extensive evaluation process and we are delighted with the great progress. These first deliveries confirm once again our strategy of working with tier one aerospace companies with proven experience in delivering products certified to the highest standards of aviation safety.”
Carl Wolf, Garmin Vice President of Aviation Sales and Marketing said: “We are proud to be part of an outstanding team supporting certification and entry into service of the Lilium Jet. Garmin is committed to innovation, and we are excited to supply our standby flight instrument solution that will add extraordinary capability to the Lilium Jet cockpit.”
Lilium began assembly of the first Lilium Jet at its manufacturing and testing facilities near Munich at the end of 2023. The first piloted flight test of the Lilium Jet is targeted to occur in late 2024.