Century IIB autopilot upgrade to altitude hold

[nels]

Is it possible to upgrade this autopilot to altitude hold? It would be nice to have this feature but is it possible, too expensive? Anybody done it or knowledgeable on the subject?

[Steve Dawson]

To the best of my knowledge you either have to get the Stec altitude hold for approximately $8K installed or the PSS 60. You might as well wait until Tru Trak or Garmin (GFC 500) has their system out.

Check previous posts for info on this.

[LANCECASPER]

10 minutes ago, nels said:

Is it possible to upgrade this autopilot to altitude hold? It would be nice to have this feature but is it possible, too expensive? Anybody done it or knowledgeable on the subject?

It would be less expensive to install the Tru Trak once it's approved for the Mooney than to get the PSS 60 installed and you'll have a new digital autopilot.

[nels]

Is there anything on the used market that could be adapted? Did the Century auto pilot of that vintage ever offer altitude hold?

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, nels said:

Is there anything on the used market that could be adapted? Did the Century auto pilot of that vintage ever offer altitude hold?

Century III's and IV's did, also Century 31's and 41's were installed in Mooneys, but again to take 40-50 year old technology and pay labor to have it installed doesn't make sense. No matter which route you go, it's going to cost $7500+ to add altitude hold.

[nels]

Another question on this: I see a Century III autopilot with altitude hold available on Ebay for 850. It is missing parts but has altitude hold present or at least it looks to be present. Is the Century III the same as the II with the addition of the altitude hold or is this just another pipe dream of mine?

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, nels said:

Another question on this: I see a Century III autopilot with altitude hold available on Ebay for 850. It is missing parts but has altitude hold present or at least it looks to be present. Is the Century III the same as the II with the addition of the altitude hold or is this just another pipe dream of mine?

Completely different autopilot

[nels]

2 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Completely different autopilot

Thanks for that info. I almost just messaged you as I figured you would be the guy to respond. Thanks again.

[bradp]

There’s no cheap way to do it.  I have a IIb and it works great with the exception of no altitude hold.  Can’t put used autopilots in without usually an an airframe specific STC.  Decided to do the GFC 500 when that becomes available.  

[kris_adams]

I have this same setup with an STEC 30 altitude hold.  The STEC piece was $7800 installed but that was in 2008.  FWIW, it has performed flawlessly since.  -KA