Century 4000 autopilot for M20E, J, K?

[testwest]

Hi folks

 

Like many, I have been hoping for the Avidyne DFC90 autopilot for our '77 M20J. However, Avidyne has been pretty slow is getting new approvals since all of their focus right now is trying to get the IFD540 out the door.

 

The entire AP upgrade situation used to be pretty bleak, either keep your old Brittain/Century/King APs running or pay through the nose for a Cobham/Stec autopilot....Bendix/King is not making a really modern AP (I think the KFC225 is getting a bit long in the tooth), and Century made a splash some time ago with the Triden and the C2000 but those seemed like fairly old designs as well.

 

But things are changing, Stec was sold to Genesys, and they have their current APs on sale now for 15% off.

 

But what really has my attention now is the Century 4000. They have announced a spate of STCs in the last few months for the C-4000 for many of the usual high-volume models....C182s, Bonanzas, PA-28s and PA-32s, and so on. This is what the C4000 control head looks like:

 

 

And the fascinating thing is they appear to be waiting for someone to contact them regarding being the first M20 to put this AP in so they can STC it. Or, they have the STC process underway for these airplanes.

 

Have a look here: http://www.centuryflight.com/stcs/stc-list/other-aircraft/1286-mooney.html

 

The C4000 is fully compatible with the Aspen PFD and EA100 adapter, and appears to be price competitive with the Stec 55, perhaps even a bit better. And it remains to be seen whether the DFC90 will ever talk to existing Century servos.

 

In our case, the entire Brittain B5 system is out of the airplane. We have a single Aspen PFD and a vacuum RC Allen attitude gyro, and no turn coordinator. I think we could get the most bang for the buck at this point putting in an EA100 and a C4000, assuming STC is imminent.

 

I think Century's recent run of STCs on the C4000 means they have their regulatory skids greased, and the many recent updates on their Facebook page here:

 

https://www.facebook.com/CenturyFlightSystems

 

tell me there are good things happening in Mineral Wells.

 

 

 

 

[dhc]

Talked to Century yesterday 8/22 and was told in no uncertain terms that they are abandoning STC effort on C-4000 for Mooneys

[testwest]

Darn.

The situation remains bleak, unless Avidyne can do something with the DFC90. Hopefully they can divert some more resources to the effort since the IFD540 is certified....

[aviatoreb]

Anybody hear word if that DFC90 is still in the queue to be certified?

[Marauder]

Anybody hear word if that DFC90 is still in the queue to be certified?

The last I heard it was in the queue. I thought most of their retrofits were based on reusing the STEC servos.

I do hope they certify it because the Aspen software can be updated to handle altitude preselect, AP annunciations and airspeed rate based climb.

http://www.aspenavionics.com/products/avidyne-dfc90

[FlyWalt]

I talked to Century yesterday regarding my Century 41 components that are in for overhaul. Based on the high price and crappy service I would not spend another single dime on future purchases from Century. They SUCK. Sorry but thats my honest opinion based on my real world experience.

 

Cheers,
W