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Dynon Autopilot Report

Fortysix12

Registered User
RanchAero Grand Vista, Brooksville
In general it's a thumbs up from me. I have a Dynon D10A with both servos at 52lbs. The roll servo is located under the seat incorporating a control arm and lever which is attatched to the torque tube. The pitch servo is mounted under the rear baggage floor and utilized the capstain attatched to the elevator cable. The cub requires the 52lb'rs. so I recommend that you don't waste you time with installing anything smaller. As stated in earlier threads the Super Cub is a difficult airplane to fly well with any autopilot. Altitude diviations as a result of thermal tubulance should not be considered as an autopilot failer. Turbulance is difficult to manage for any autopilot in any airplane but it is noticably more difficult in the Cub. Smooth air operation is flawless. My servos have been installed for over a year now and 150 hours later I have to report that the Dynon Group has been fantastic with product support. There was probably less than 5 Super Cubs flying with an autopilot at the time I started testing. When I started evaluating and testing the operation for satisfactory autopilot control , establishing a set of operation standards as well as a base line was part of the challenge, is the the autopilot, is it the airplane, is it the installation. GPS nav and tracking is plus or minus 1 degree and very stable without any hunting. Perfect heading bug operation requires the remote magnetometer and the EFIS to be mounted in an instrument panel that is very close to 90 degrees in relation to the level flight attitude. My instrument panel is at 17 degrees which not optimal and has minor influences on two of the autopilots flight control modes. When the autopilot is in the heading mode the airplane hunts plus or minus 3 degrees and again this because the magnetometer is tilted with my panel. Historically the heading bug mode is the most stable of all Dynon EFIS modes but because of my panel tilt it is not. The other mode that is off slighly is perfect selected altitude preselect,meaning I overshoot or undershoot my altitude preselect by 20 feet. Not a big deal but it's not perfect for a 100% digital autopilot. So, if you are building an experimental Super Cub I recommend that you choose the Dynon EFIS as part of your instrumentation and spend the additional 1500 bucks for the servos and take full advantage of the Dynon autopilot,dollar for dollar I found it to be the best value. The weight penalty is around 8 pounds including brackets and mounting hardware. I average 250 hours a year and half of that time is flying out and back to the western United States. There is no substitute for great autopilot.

Jeffrey A Jones.
 
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Jeff

Glad to see you stuck with it. I now have over 800 hrs on my TruTrak A/P. Can't imagine a trip to JC without it. Had Dynon offered one back then I would have jumped on it. With panel space at a premium it would have been nice to have an integrated A/P controller.

Can you run altitude hold only, independent of a roll mode? I find it helpful when sightseeing at lower altitudes. Wish I had your altitude preselect feature.

Lou
 
Lou,

Yes to Altitude hold only I also like the additional safety of site seeing at lower altitudes. The first 200 plus hours/year was without the autopilot, can't imangine being without it. I'm looking forward to installing the AP 74 because of the true Mode preselect it offers as well as a more convenient autopilot managment tool. I have become very comfortable with using the six buttons at the bottom but if I can find the panel space the 74 will be a nice addition. With regard to heading and altitude preselects, the Dynon D10A performs this funtion for both the heading and altitude mode as long as you are making changes from an engaged mode . The Dynon is defaulted to sync any mode when engaged. For expample, if you dial in an altitude of 8500 with out the altitude hold already engaged,even though altitude as been preselect, when the alt hold buttom is pushed it defaults to what ever alt the airplane is at or syncs,same goes for the heading or track mode. When either of the modes are engaged and you choose higher or lower altitude or new direction using the bug, the heading and altitude bug then act as a true preselect. In summary, without the AP 74, true preselect is only available after you make a change from having either mode engaged. The AP 74 adds true Preselect in advance of engaging either heading or altitude mode when installed.

I found that using the D10A without the 74 has been more than satisfactory but look forward to the additional features it offers.
 
Thanks for the report Jeff, its encouraging.
I'm using their Skyview system to control the a/p so not sure how it will all work out. I'm set up for a capstan servo in the wing to control roll. Not sure about that either & may have to change it to use your's and Lou's arrangement. Hope to find out this flying season. I'll return the SV42 drives for the '52's based on your experience.
I finished painting the base colour last fall and just resumed work on the avionics now. Hope to have the engine back on the mount in a couple of weeks. From there......the other 90%
Ole
 
Every time I would ask about putting one in my Certified 18 at the shows Stec and Century would say give us your airplane and we will use it for the STC. Don't know what that might involve or if that is there current thinking but nothing ventured nothing gained. Let us know what they say. The 30 with alt hold from STEC would be the most practical. Not sure what Century currently offers that might be similar in panel space as the 30 which is a consolidated Turn Coordinator autopilot.
 
Can you tell me the part number of the bracket and connecting arm that goes from the torque tube to the servo? Where can that be purchased?
 
Neat. At first I was thinking that 52 lbs pe servo was a bit much, then I got the drift. So what would we need to convert a Mooney 201, and would it make sense at the next HSI overhaul?
 
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