A lot of people seem to echo chamber dump on the G3X but it’s a perfectly adequate system that takes care of all the basics. Or more accurately, used to!
We’ve been advised to remove the old working title G3X mod @ Working Title G3X - Intro because apparenly its “This package is considered obsolete, as updates to the stock G3X Touch have enhanced it beyond the level of our mod.”
See also: PSA: Working Title G3X 0.1.0 Mod is Deprecated. Only Asobo G3X is Supported - #3
However, I’ve just been testing a bunch of planes with G3X’s and from my perspective the stock G3X is nowhere near “enhanced it beyond the level of our mod.”
A key aspect missing from the stock G3X is the ability to access an AP page, which is very useful in quite a few aircraft that don’t have dedicated G3X AP hardware. That’s a backward step for something that has high utility.
Is there feature list of exactly how it is enhanced over the old mod, and if the new stock one will get back the features that were removed from the old mod, such as the AP page functionality.
Thanks!
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I agree completely. As far as I can tell, you cannot even use Com 2 in the G3X.
This is not so much a reply to the OP’s question, as an extension of it into a related question. The info quoted from the WT website also lists the aircraft affected by the deprecation. The Icon A5 is noted as one of them ‘because it uses the stock G3X’. But my Icon (on MSFS 1.32.7.0) does not. It has the original more limited Garmin avionics single screen. Other aircraft, such as the Asobo Cubcrafters X Cub and my purchased FreedomFox, do have G3X Touch ’ three screens in one’ avionics, so it appears to be an aircraft specific problem. I’d like to know why this is happening (changing liveries does not make a difference…) , and more particularly, how do I get the Asobo Icon A5 to load the ‘three screen’ G3X Touch?
Personal Comments and Observations
Technically the G3X doesn’t have an AP capability without a GFC (if sticking to a full Garmin suite). So that is accurate. It does work in other products correctly when integrated with the right equipment. FSReborn’s Sting S4 comes to mind, there are others I’m sure.
The one feature that I miss on the WT G3X is the Velocity Vector, which for often hand flown planes (as opposed to immediately enabling AP upon reaching cruise, is extremely useful, especially in the landing phase.
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The Icon’s Garmin Aerea (sp?) likely draws it’s base functionality from the G3X code. Certainly it leverages the exact same fictional Moving Map/MFD display that the G3X uses (which in turn is a variant likely of the VFR map tool).
The G3X Touch variant (like the Pipistrel Virus SW-121) can’t be loaded into an aircraft that doesn’t have the right bezel and hardware screen setup. Since there’s only a single screen on the Icon, at the most, it could act like the XCub, which has a combined PFD/MFD but that’s it. But the XCub has no dedicated instrument console but the Icon does. So it acts more like an MFD.
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AFAIK the Asobo Icon A5 has the Garmin Aera, not the G3X, though as noted elsewhere they seem to be related implementations in the sim. For both the Icon A5 and the Flight Design CTSL there are mods which swap the Aera out for a shrunken G3X touch screen; I’ve tried the CTSL one in the past and it did work, but without the proper bezel and control modeling it’s not really ideal. 
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I’d just like to re-iterate, as I have elsewhere, that “lesser” Garmin offerings like the G3X, the G5, and the GI275 series are absolutely crucial to modern GA and should get the same superb level of attention as the G1000, etc.
Even the G500/600 should be an offering someday, though I have a feeling those are a bit heavier of a lift.
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Thanks for these responses. I use the Garmin instruments popped out into an appropriate Air Manager bezel on a separate screen. So the lack of a bezel in the plane cockpit is not a problem, unless it means that there are no input/outputs in the Icon aircraft model for the Air Manager bezel to hook to.
I am familiar with the Flightsim.to mods, but they depend on the Working Title G3X, and WT say this is now deprecated because the Icon, amongst other aircraft, is now equipped with the (supposedly better) Asobo version of G3X… And yet mine is not! So I have come full circle…
As a matter of record, does anyone on this forum have the G3X showing up on their stock (no mods) Asobo Icon A5?
I checked the panel.cfg and it’s specifically loading the Aera, not the G3X. You should definitely not be seeing the G3X on an unmodded Asobo_Icon.
So the WT reference to the Icon having the Asobo G3X is mistaken/misleading, it seems. Which Aera? I am assuming a simplified version of the 796.
I have to agree with this post. I’m in the NXCub atm that uses the G3X and we don’t even have an airport info page. When you click on NRST button and pull up all the near airfields there should be an option to see airport info per individual airport. Important things like field elevation, runways, frequencies, procedures, etc. We have none of that in the G3X. How long will it take Asobo to give this Garmin package some attention that it drastically needs???
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i’m learning to use the G3X in real life at the moment and there are HEAPS of feaures missing. Pretty disapointing that nobody has made a full study level version of it, i would pay for it for sure, and im sure alot of other people learning to use it IRL would too. much cheaper than learning it with the hobbs running!!!
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Mod Edit: Even though the Wishlist Item was authored by me, as Staff I edited the post below to avoid having to remove it for non-compliance with the vote solicitation rule.
The current iteration of the G3X is a mere shell of what the real thing can do. If you’d like to see it upgraded, please participate, and SHARE this link: Upgrade Garmin G3X to NXi Standards
It makes no sense at all to me that what is one of the most prolific avionics suites in high performance GA aircraft these days is a useless potato in MSFS.
For those of you on Discord and joined the Working Title server, you can see the latest conversation starting around this message and scrolling down.
Challenges:
G3X development would be enormous and costly - perhaps larger than all of the Garmin work to date combined.
G3X requires still a navigation unit and an AP panel, which is missing on some aircraft that came stock with the unit.
And there are other reasons and implications - you can check it out for yourselves.
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My own interest is primarily manual VFR in light GA planes; most of these planes aren’t even rated for IFR. I won’t be shooting any RNAV approaches, and would only use an autopilot if there’s a paired unit in the simulated plane.
I’d love at least a visual refresh for the stock G3X unit in MSFS 2024; it looks a bit off from the images I see in the Garmin manuals.
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Honestly, if I would get one thing back from the old WT version is the Velocity Vector.
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I’m still using the old WT G3X fix, as it’s too useful!
Something else that I noticed in the latest version of G3X:
When intercepting a localizer signal in VLOC mode, the heading indicator does not swing into the direction of the signal’s origin. The little green diamond’s horizontal alignment scale works properly but there also is no vertical glide slope indication, even when the plane (the X-Cub in this example) has properly locked onto both the localizer and glideslope signals. Is it just me?
Localizers don’t work with a radio magnetic indicator (RMI) as there is no relative bearing indication from the station as you’d get with an NDB or VOR.
As far as no glideslope, can you indicate which localizer/airport you were tuning?
Hmm…
I certainly can’t argue with your point from a technical standpoint. However it does seem like with other Garmin systems in MSFS, the indicator does swing towards the direction of the localizer signal. Perhaps they are incorrect?
The specific airport where I have been testing this is Baltimore-Washington (KBWI) - runway 10, localizer signal 109.7.
To be clear, the plane does intercept the signal correctly, aligns itself horizontally and follows the glideslope down precisely irrespective of the G3X indicators, or lack thereof.
Update:
Just double-checked my observations. On the X-Cub there are both lateral and glide-slope position indications for the ILS. The heading indicator represents deviation from correct lateral position both with the little horizontal green diamond indicator and with the split needle method - not very intuitive, especially if it is pointing 90 degrees or more in the wrong direction. The glide-slope indicator is represented and works as expected.
On the VL-3, basically the same as above for the X-Cub except the glide-slope indicator seems to pop on and off the screen intermittently, probably relative to the proximity of the aircraft to the actual glide-slope.
On a G1000 system, I.E. Cessna 208, the heading indicator does in fact swing towards the source of the localizer and glide-slope signal, using the split needle as an indication for deviation from the target lateral position. It has the same indication as the G3X for glide-slope.