AlexLev Posted July 15, 2017 Report Posted July 15, 2017 My airplane has a very old Pathfinder P2A autopilot with a heading/nav mode. As far as I know, the turn coordinator drives it but I'm not sure if it somehow uses the engine driven vacuum pump too. I know the Mooney PC leveling system did, but not sure about the Pathfinder. Does anyone know whether the Pathfinder will continue to work if engine driven vacuum pump fails? Would be a great help in a vacuum failure, obviously. Checked the flight supplement for it, but it didn't have any info. Quote
TTaylor Posted July 16, 2017 Report Posted July 16, 2017 The P2A is all electric from what I have seen. No vacuum to the t&b on mine. I have been trying to reach the repair shop to have mine checked but no luck in reaching them in the past six months. Quote
AlexLev Posted July 16, 2017 Author Report Posted July 16, 2017 6 minutes ago, TTaylor said: The P2A is all electric from what I have seen. No vacuum to the t&b on mine. I have been trying to reach the repair shop to have mine checked but no luck in reaching them in the past six months. What repair shop are you calling? I heard Autopilots Central may be able to help from a BeechTalk thread. Have you tried calling them? Quote
kerry Posted July 17, 2017 Report Posted July 17, 2017 I have a P2A in my plane. It is electric. No vacuum. Michael Ritterbush is the only person that has the equipment to repair it. He use to work for U.S. Avionix who designed and manufactured Pathfinder autopilots. Michael repairs turn coordinators and now resides in Oregon. Let me know if you want Michael's contact info. Quote
AlexLev Posted July 17, 2017 Author Report Posted July 17, 2017 (edited) 3 minutes ago, kerry said: I have a P2A in my plane. It is electric. No vacuum. Michael Ritterbush is the only person that has the equipment to repair it. He use to work for U.S. Avionix who designed and manufactured Pathfinder autopilots. Michael repairs turn coordinators and now resides in Oregon. Let me know if you want Michael's contact info. Please! Can you PM it? If my Turn Coordinator is bouncy and a bit unstable in turbulence, but the autopilot works fine, would Michael be the person to overhaul it? Edited July 17, 2017 by AlexLev Quote
kerry Posted July 17, 2017 Report Posted July 17, 2017 If it's your TC then Michael is the only person that has the parts to OH it. If it's the heading bug on the DG because it drifts then you need it OH'd from any instrument repair shop. Try flying with it in wing leveler mode by pushing the heading button in half way and see what happens. Quote
TTaylor Posted July 17, 2017 Report Posted July 17, 2017 I have been trying to reach Michael for about six months with no luck. Let me know if you make contact with him. Quote
carusoam Posted July 17, 2017 Report Posted July 17, 2017 The power of MS working! Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
wcb Posted September 15, 2017 Report Posted September 15, 2017 I could use his contact info or any info on potential repair of a Pathfinder M3A for the 76 M20F. Any help from the MS community would be awesome. Several people have said just scrap it and go with a STEC. For now I would rather save the $10,000 to $15,000 (or more) and only spend a few thousand on a repair (to many other things on my wish list). Quote
kerry Posted September 18, 2017 Report Posted September 18, 2017 If you can get ahold of Michael Ritterbush then it will probably cost less than a thousand to fix it. I messaged you his email address. Quote
kerry Posted September 18, 2017 Report Posted September 18, 2017 On 9/15/2017 at 12:23 PM, wcb said: I could use his contact info or any info on potential repair of a Pathfinder M3A for the 76 M20F. Any help from the MS community would be awesome. Several people have said just scrap it and go with a STEC. For now I would rather save the $10,000 to $15,000 (or more) and only spend a few thousand on a repair (to many other things on my wish list). If you do scrap it I would like to have it for parts. Quote
Michel02 Posted December 13, 2018 Report Posted December 13, 2018 Hi , is someone have owner manual or operation manuel , just have 1975 mooney m20f executive 21 ,and a pathfinder p2a on board but instruction how to test Thank Michel c-gmmm canada Quote
AlexLev Posted December 14, 2018 Author Report Posted December 14, 2018 (edited) I can take a look, I may have a supplement guide, but I am not sure how helpful it will be. It would take me a few weeks to dig it up though - won't be in the hangar for a while with the holidays. On a sidenote: I just got the astronaturics turn coordinator overhauled by Pacific Southwest Instruments. The good news is that the autopilot works better to hold heading, but the bad news is when I use the knobs on the TC to enter a standard rate turn, it seems to do a full deflection now vs the 8-10 degree bank it did before. Anyone have any ideas on how to troubleshoot? Edited December 14, 2018 by AlexLev Quote
kerry Posted December 14, 2018 Report Posted December 14, 2018 I have the ground check and flight test procedures manual. I know you can adjust the TC turn rate inside of the controller. Inside my controller the pot adjusters are labelled. I'll try to attach the manual tomorrow. Quote
AlexLev Posted December 14, 2018 Author Report Posted December 14, 2018 @kerry - where is the controller? What happens now if I turn the knob is the aileron just fully deflects and keeps turning (uh oh), rather than a small controlled bank. Before I overhauled the TC, I didn't have this problem. Quote
Michel02 Posted December 14, 2018 Report Posted December 14, 2018 nice , willing to pay for the manuel and work. thank Michel Quote
TTaylor Posted December 14, 2018 Report Posted December 14, 2018 I placed the manual in a .zip folder in the Downloads/Avionics section. 1 Quote
kerry Posted December 14, 2018 Report Posted December 14, 2018 7 hours ago, AlexLev said: @kerry - where is the controller? What happens now if I turn the knob is the aileron just fully deflects and keeps turning (uh oh), rather than a small controlled bank. Before I overhauled the TC, I didn't have this problem. The controller has 4 buttons on the front of it. Pull on it. Should slide out of tray. On top of controller you'll see the pots that can adjust the gains on your autopilot. The manual has lots of info on tests and trouble shooting. 1 Quote
Michel02 Posted December 31, 2018 Report Posted December 31, 2018 On 12/14/2018 at 6:29 PM, kerry said: On 12/13/2018 at 10:38 PM, AlexLev said: I can take a look, I may have a supplement guide, but I am not sure how helpful it will be. It would take me a few weeks to dig it up though - won't be in the hangar for a while with the holidays. On a sidenote: I just got the astronaturics turn coordinator overhauled by Pacific Southwest Instruments. The good news is that the autopilot works better to hold heading, but the bad news is when I use the knobs on the TC to enter a standard rate turn, it seems to do a full deflection now vs the 8-10 degree bank it did before. Anyone have any ideas on how to troubleshoot? The controller has 4 buttons on the front of it. Pull on it. Should slide out of tray. On top of controller you'll see the pots that can adjust the gains on your autopilot. The manual has lots of info on tests and trouble shooting. I have turn coqrd part no 50-001 14 model 8 j astronautios corporation look almos new or rebuilt from log book , plug in said jul 29 1975 so it look like install in the plane 1975 M20 F executive when built , on the panel ,,,,, auto pilot say GPS or VOR , how to start the system is my question ,, are the servo work elec or vac , Thank Michel On 12/14/2018 at 6:29 PM, kerry said: The controller has 4 buttons on the front of it. Pull on it. Should slide out of tray. On top of controller you'll see the pots that can adjust the gains on your autopilot. The manual has lots of info on tests and trouble shooting. Quote
Michel02 Posted December 31, 2018 Report Posted December 31, 2018 When the turn coordinator is electric whit a plug in to it are the servo electric or vacuum , mine is install in 1975 and plane is 1975 thank Michel Quote
kerry Posted January 1, 2019 Report Posted January 1, 2019 The auto pilot is all electrical. No vacuum. Quote
kerry Posted January 1, 2019 Report Posted January 1, 2019 There should be a button that says heading. If that button is pushed in 1/2 way then the A/P works as a wing leveler. When heading button is pushed in all the way then the A/P follows the heading bug on your DG. If you push the VOR or GPS buttons then it should follow those avionics if wired correctly. The GPS is confusing to me because GPS is a digital signal. Your autopilot is analog. To work you would need some kind of converter. Whenever you engage your A/P make sure heading bug on your DG is set. Quote
Michel02 Posted January 1, 2019 Report Posted January 1, 2019 thank i will do some test happy new year Michel C-GMMM Quote
AlexLev Posted January 1, 2019 Author Report Posted January 1, 2019 13 hours ago, kerry said: There should be a button that says heading. If that button is pushed in 1/2 way then the A/P works as a wing leveler. When heading button is pushed in all the way then the A/P follows the heading bug on your DG. If you push the VOR or GPS buttons then it should follow those avionics if wired correctly. The GPS is confusing to me because GPS is a digital signal. Your autopilot is analog. To work you would need some kind of converter. Whenever you engage your A/P make sure heading bug on your DG is set. I think the 430W has an analog signal output. Quote
Michel02 Posted January 2, 2019 Report Posted January 2, 2019 last question, where are those servo so many door thank Michel Quote
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