| Author | Message | ||
     Reinhard Metz |
In case anyone is interested in GPSS, I just added it to my STEC-30. It is absolutely fantastic! It takes your GPS ARINC-429 output and puts it through a computer to drive the AP roll steering input. The result is that the autopilot flies any flight plan that you can come up with in the GPS, including approaches, perfectly. Nice standard rate turns, turn prediction that takes speed into account, etc. It completely gets rid of the slight tracking hunt you get in turbulence or strong crosswinds that were present in normal GPS tracking mode, and has not course change angle limitations. If you are off a selected course when you enable it, such as vectors to final, it turns in the shortest direction and makes for the course at a 45 deg angle, and then turns on to it. Flies DME arcs all by itself. And the Express folks got it for me for a good price. When I first installed the Autopilot and went through various steps of tuning and adjusting for the dynamics of the Express, we would joke about how "Otto" was doing - he started out a senior in high school, graduated from that, worked his way through bachelor's degree, etc. When the slight altitude hold porpoising at higher altitudes got fixed, we said he got his master's degree. Now, with the GPSS, my buddy Dennis decreed that "Otto" had gotten his PhD.!! | ||
| bob wallace |
Another choice that I highly reccomend is the Tru Trak flight sytems. About six models to choice from starting at under $2,000 to about $10,000. They have the installation klt for Express and can ship right away. http://www.trutrakflightsystems.com Take a look at their webb page, and especialy the "about" portion with the history of the two key developers. I installed myself in about a day. Had some problems that turned out to be over the very heavy control force ( 3-1/2 pounds at the stick). They encourged me to visit them in Springdale Ark, where they worked into they night to adjust the express linkage and all sorts of other on the spot magic, until it worked perfect. Althougt they have sold to two or three other express, mine is the first flying, and they took all the related diminisions and factors to be able to better serve future sales. I have used auto pilots by S-Tec,King (150 series) and century ( 2000). Nothing compares with the ease and absolute flight quaility of my unit which is their 200 VS series with GPSS. Cost was about $4,800.I plan on upgrading to 250 series when I can They are now the exclusive auto-pilot for sale by VANS, and are offered by Glasair. You cannot believe that one little box, without requireing DG or other gyros can do so much. These guys are deditcated to experimental market, and have not found a challenge they can't meet. When you or your avionic shop see the quaility of their servos, you will wish you could put them in "certified" aircraft. I understand that Bob Gisburn has their system in one of his planes. I have not talked to him about it yet, but I bet he would gladly share his opinion with anyone, unless he is still shy ! I will be installing in my Glastar this summer. Check it out ! | ||
| Bob Gisburne (Gisburne) |
I agree 100% with Bob Wallace. I have an STEC-50 in my Express, but recently completed the TruTrack installation in my Questair Venture. This is truely an INCREDIBLE autopilot. The bang for the buck is very high. I installed the 350 model with roll, pitch and yaw servos. The speed range of the Venture is 63kts stall to 245kts cruise... the autopilot handles all flight regimes with no issue. The system is software configurable from the programmer panel. For instance, the autopilot shuts off at a user selected airspeed. I have it disconnect at 80kts. The VNAV function is very nice. Set in an altitude and distance and the airplane flies like its on a wire. Works for climbs and descents. Indicated airspeed climb, as well as verticle speed climb/descent. I do not have GPSS available from my GPS, so I can't comment on that capability. I have flown coupled ILS approaches to the minimum with no issues. Truely a great autopilot and a great company. Like Bob Wallace, I flew to Springdale to have some items tweaked. It took overnight, so Jim Yonkin and his wife Ada made me stay at their home. I was also fortunate to run into Charlie Scott (a fellow Express builder/Arkansas resident). We had a great lunch with Charlie and Jim. Jim by the way, invented the Mitchell and Century line of autopilots and the famous Century NSD360 HSI. I would without hesitation recommend this autopilot for the Express. Thanks! Bob Gisburne N4382A Express N29G Venture | ||
| Al Kittleson New member Username: Al38kit Post Number: 35 Registered: 07-2007 |
Stec servos... For those of you who have Stec stuff...would you please share with me the part numbers of the servos you are using? I am putting together a homebrew system with the help of one of my buddies who is thoroughly familiar with the Stec stuff. He says that if I could get the part numbers of known servos that work well with the Express, it would take a lot of guesswork out of the equation...apparantly the gearing of the servo makes a lot of difference. I have some gain info settings on the brains in the computer, but that info would be helpful also..Reinhard has already shared his gain info, which has been helpful... thanks, Al | ||
| jorge baccaro New member Username: Jabaccaro Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2009 |
Hello This is my first comment in the forum. I´m from Argentina and I bought the N119NC. It was a long and hard work for carry to my country but I did it. Also I got and STEC 60 II and I want to instyall it. I´ll need some help about the position of the servos, some pictures, any suggestion where computer should be place. Thnks for your comments, is a very nice and useful forum.} | ||
| Robert G. Tompkins New member Username: Drbob Post Number: 12 Registered: 09-2009 |
Gentlemen, I have also put a Trutrak autopilot in my Express. This is wired into a Grand Rapids Horizon HX (synthetic vision). In a few test flights, I have not been able to get the hang of using it. There seems to be problem with the altitude mode. It seems to oscillate +/- 50 feet around the target altitude and instead of getting sick, I have just turned it off. To date, I am slowing learning the features of the HX and I intend to then try and master the Trutrak. Given my previous hours have been flying non-auto pilot aircraft, would you recommend I go to Springdale for some training? I would fit nicely into a cross country trip I am planning in the next two weeks. Robert Tompkins N100NM | ||
| Reinhard Metz New member Username: Reinhard_metz Post Number: 92 Registered: 03-2003 |
Robert, I used to have a vertical hunting problem with my STEC altitude hold as well, and it would make you sick. I don't know if yours has the same type of sensor, but if you have a static-fed pressure sensor like the STEC, I would recommend that if you have it tied into your regular static system, to disconnect it and provide it a separate dedicated feed from a stable static air source. In my case, I ran a polyethylene line out to the inside of a wing tip. You can use cabin air as well, but then your altitude will change if you change the flow from your air vents! The static system air is not stable enough wrt pitch attitude, which caused the hunt in my system |