Recommendations for new autopilot - M20E

[DAVIDWH]

From my experience with Autopilots Central in Tulsa, I would highly recommend.

 

Sent 18 yr old Bendix King with altitude hold and full flight director system to them with so many squawks,

 

unable to count. They bench tested and found "very dirty connectors," inop. FD light, and a defective capacitor causing power

 

supplty voltages to spike.

 

After a polite admonishment to have unit aircraft connectors cleaned, unit returned  with $600 bill and

 

flawless performance since. 

[Marauder]

Sorry to highjack your thread, but while on the autopilot topic, what would you guys suggest I do in my F? It has never had anything autopilot installed, except for the original Brittain PC wing leveler system, but that was removed many, many years ago. I thought along the lines of something that I can build up over time and maybe start out with something like a wing leveler or something that can track the heading bug and then add as funds allow?

I was in a similar situation in the 90s with mine. I had the wing leveler that was working but had no altitude hold and could not even fly a heading. I flew IFR this way for 7 years before I had the whole system removed and installed an STEC 60-2. If you plan on keeping the plane a while, I would recommend looking at the STECs or possibly building out a Brittain solution. Many of us have components from our original Brittain systems. It comes down to a level of commitment to the plane. If you think you will be moving on to a later model, you won't recover your costs. Many of us are happy with the performance of our older Mooneys and adding functionality is important based on our intended mission. I know flying IFR with a good reliable AP has helped the workload.

[jnisley]

I have an STEC 30 with Alt Hold and GPSS with the 430W.  AWESOME.   I'd get your system fixed and upgraded with Alt Hold.

Same here, agree

[eaglebkh]

Another vote for repairing the S-tec and add Alt hold.  I have a 30 with alt hold and it "holds" my E pretty good.  I have flown an Arrow with the same alt hold and it was constantly beeping at me to adjust the elevator trim in level flight.  In the Mooney, just punch the alt hold once you've reached cruise speed and trimmed it - never beeps unless I change power or the plane enters a bank.