If you were like me when Garmin announced the availability of AC-U-KWIKyou were thinking “AC-U-WHAT!?” Well, after taking a look at the press release the light bulb has come on, and if you were thinking the same thing maybe it’s time for a second look. If you are familiar with current Garmin products you know that several of the products (i.e. the aera 550 up to the G1000) can display AOPA airport directory information. This is a very useful database that contains tons of information about airport operations, FBOs, fuel providers, ground transportation, restaurants, and much more.

Now Garmin has announced the availability of AC-U-KWIK, which is a similar database.  So, my first question was “What’s the difference?” Well, the AOPA currently has coverage for the US. The AC-U-KWIK database has information on more than 7,800 airports globally. This is huge for people that normally fly outside of the US and have wanted AOPA like information for where they fly. Also world travelers will have the vital information they were used to in the US when they travel abroad. The AC-U-KWIK airport directory is now available for the aera 550/560 and the GPSMAP 695/696 as long as you have software version 3.10 on the aera and 4.60 for the GPSMAP 695/696.