Autopilot systems

[noodles]

I hadn't seen a posting for this and thought it might be useful for myself and others.

 

What are the available autopilot systems.

 

Best Bang for the Buck?

 

Low end?

 

High end?

 

I ran into a site selling non certified autopilot systems.

 

http://www.navaid-devices.com $1300

 

Can someone educate me on why this is a good or bad decision?

[Wayne Hicks]

Besides sifting through the usual catalogs, I've always found the Experimental Builders Panel website to contain a usually up-to-date list of panel goodies.

 

http://epanelbuilder.com

 

Not only does this website SHOW you what the product looks like, it LISTS the website where you can FIND more information about the product.

 

Clicking under "autopilots", you'll find (in order of probable costs) NavAid, Tru Trak, Century, S-Tec (all models), Sierra, and the various EFIS dudes.

 

My subjective opinion is:

 

Navaid single axis autopilots are the most popular in canard community. It costs less and probably works as good if not better than a used Century unit pulled from certified aircraft. Tru-Track is starting to make headway into the homebuilt market. They offer single and dual axis control. The S-Tec 20 (single axis) and S-Tec 30 (two axis) are pobably next in line as for as costs. The various EFIS systems provide some autpilot capabilities too.

 

Remember to use the epanel website. I true gold mine. Those guys provide an invaluable service for us!!

 

.....Wayne Hicks

[noodles]

”Not only does this website SHOW you what the product looks like, it LISTS the website where you can FIND more information about the product.”

 

That’s excellent.

 

 

”Remember to use the epanel website. I true gold mine. Those guys provide an invaluable service for us!!”

 

Thanks, I kept glazing over the sight. It’s definitely an excellent compilation of what’s available on the market. It may be some time before I would need it. I enjoy gleaming information from the Cozy crowd.

 

There landing light kit seems like it might be worthwhile?

 

Have you personally used the Navaid? If so how does the smart coupler work into the picture?

[Wayne Hicks]

My plane is not yet flying, but I did fly Marc's plane on the way to Sun N Fun. You can read my write-up on my website.

http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/pages/waynehicks/index.html

 

I flew one hour without the NavAid and one hour with the NavAid.

 

It did a very good job of holding course. (Alot better than me!) The GPS coupler is an add-on that computes an intercept between the inbound and outbound courses at a waypoint. Marc and the others can explain the technical stuff better, but the coupler allows the NavAid to smoothly make the turn from inbound to outbound. You don't have to disengage the A/P. You don't have to fly the intercept manually.

 

The NavAid is a very popular autopilot. Alot of bang for the bucks.

 

...Wayne Hicks

[Juan Rivera]

I have had a navaid auto pilot for 15 years and it has worked pretty well for me. I recently purchased a Trio avionics autopilot and it uses the navaid servo, it is a big improvement over the old navaid autopilot. It not only tracks very well, the display can show all of the navigation information that your GPS provides and it has many other nice features.