Good Brittain shop, Central Texas?

[garytex]

My Brittain autopilot, OEM and branded "MOONEY on the faceplate in a 67 F, which I love, has ceased limping along, and rolled up in a ball.  Who knows the drill for efficiently fixing this autopilot? Close to Austin would be nice.

Dugosh?, Maxwell?  Anybody know anybody else?  Maybe an avionics shop that is familiar.  I talked to the Mfg, in Tulsa, Great guys, know the equip. up one side and down the other but no ramp appointment for 6 Mos.

Thanks, Gary

[Steve65E-NC]

Gary,

 

   As I recall the Brittian factory is in Oklahoma.  They have alway been very helpful to me by phone and I think their prices are fair.  If I lived one state over, as you do, I would make a phone call and follow up with a trip to the factory if indicated.  I can dig up their phone number but I think a quick Google search will bring you to it. 

 

Steve65E-NC

[N601RX]

I've had good luck using an hand operated vac pump and connecting to the hoses behind the panel and activating both the left and right servos with it and making sure there are no leaks.  It takes about 30-40 pumps of the one I have to get a full deflection.  Don't go above 5psi. watch the gauge and see if there are any leaks. You can get one from he local auto parts store.  Once you are sure there are no leaks then call Brittain and they can tell you which components you need to send to them. Their bench repair wait is usually only a week or two.

 

Replacing hoses and tubing is covered under owner maint.

[scottfromiowa]

Steve, OPer just said they have a six month wait...so that is why is inquiring on local/area expertise to expedite his repair. Good luck Gary. We had previously secured a slot for our Altitude Hold first week of April. Install will take a week. Glad they are "busy" at Brittain ...for their/our viability for service/refurb. Sorry for your delay.

[garytex]

Steve: that was my first inclination, they have no ramp appointments for months.  I'm too lazy to hand fly it that long :-)

Scott: Yeah, going to the Brittain shop in Tulsa is a no question best bet, but not possible.  How long ago did you set your appointment?

Gary

601RX: Yeah, after talking to Tulsa I visited with my usual mechanic about doing that exact thing, he is exceptionally scrupulous about not charging me for his learning time, and recused himself.  So I'm looking, hopefully for someone that already know the system.

Thanks, Guys

Gary

[Steve65E-NC]

I agree with 601rx about the use of a hand vac pump and a little telephone consultation with Brittian.  Once you localize the component they have rebuilds available for just about everything.  The problem is usually just a leaking boot or tube.  The hand pump makes it easy to identify those problems.   I just have a wing leveler with the gyro in the rear.  Do you have a more sophisticated unit with vor tracking etc?  I think the gyro moves to the turn coordinator in those models.   

[garytex]

My limited understanding is wing leveler is off the turn coordinator (still sort of working) and I have no idea what the brains for the autopilot is.  I just set a magnetic track on the dial on the face of the unit, and it used to head on a pretty steady course that bore a little resemblance to the number dialed up.  Then i would just reference the ground track on the GPS and adjust the autopilot…The unit currently pays absolutely no attention to the dial, but it still sort of holds altitude about as well as it ever did, within 100-200 feet over a reasonable amount of bumps and time. I am realizing that I am sort of in the dark about autopilots.  I am fairly knowledgable about structures and engines, it is uncomfortable to know so little about something broken on my plane.  

Thanks to all for your help.

Gary 

[N601RX]

The altitude hold is a completely separate system, they just mount the switch and indicator in the panel with the rest of it. Once you rule out any leaks any leaks Brittain will be able to tell you which components need to be sent back.

[Guest]

Gary,

There are good instructions in the manual that you and your mechanic can follow to isolate the troubles. Brittain is also very good about providing manuals.

You can locate a set of "T"s in the fuselage. If you connect a vacuum gauge to the lines at the T then pull the servo pot out have an assistant watch the vacuum gauge you can locate the leaks. The pots and lines should be leak free.

The filters in the system are Fram gas line filters available at Napa or Pep Boys. The manuals have trouble shooting and adjustment procedures as well.

Clarence

[scottfromiowa]

Steve: that was my first inclination, they have no ramp appointments for months.  I'm too lazy to hand fly it that long :-)

Scott: Yeah, going to the Brittain shop in Tulsa is a no question best bet, but not possible.  How long ago did you set your appointment?

Gary

601RX: Yeah, after talking to Tulsa I visited with my usual mechanic about doing that exact thing, he is exceptionally scrupulous about not charging me for his learning time, and recused himself.  So I'm looking, hopefully for someone that already know the system.

Thanks, Guys

Gary

Co-owner made appointment several weeks ago...