Auto pilot

[Tracker]

I fly a Mooney M20R in ifr with an stec autopilot.  My project for flying in a retirement is to finish building a Zenith SD 750 as an amphib.  I am progressing nicely.  My mission will be to fly for fun with time to spare but I want to employ my ifr skills to not have to scud run and pop through cloud layers.  Also my cross country trips will be much longer than in my Mooney (cruise 105 mph!). A one axis autopilot will be easy to install but a servo for pitch will be more difficult.  So my question…. For light ifr in a slow airplane would a roll/wing leveller be enough? 

[Rwsavory]

I think it is. There are many pilots flying fast airplanes IFR with a single axis auto-pilot. 

[cliffy]

I flew my Mooney C  many  hours IFR with just a wing leveler

[carusoam]

Wing leveler is kind of a must have…

holding a course… would be next on the list…

Following a magenta line is great to avoid tiring easily…

does the O have to go with this plan?

 

I need to get the MSers with O-forever-planes group started…

 

Best regards,

-a-

[Pinecone]

Hmm, I flew a lot of hours in jets without any autopilot at all.

 

[larryb]

Hmm, I flew a lot of hours in jets without any autopilot at all.
 

Yes but in a jet you generally have a 2nd pilot.

[Andy95W]

34 minutes ago, larryb said:

Yes but in a jet you generally have a 2nd pilot.

Unfortunately you just gave Pinecone another opportunity to remind all of us that he flew jets in the military. 

[Pinecone]

44 minutes ago, larryb said:

Yes but in a jet you generally have a 2nd pilot.

Nope, not in my case.

[Pinecone]

9 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

Unfortunately you just gave Pinecone another opportunity to remind all of us that he flew jets in the military. 

Are you really that jealous???

[Skates97]

7 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Hmm, I flew a lot of hours in jets without any autopilot at all.

 

If I was flying those speeds I would be there before I felt the need to turn on autopilot. 

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Are you really that jealous???

Yes, I am. 

[Hank]

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Are you really that jealous???

Just because I failed the Navy flight physical at age 17 because my vision was somewhat less than 20/20? You betcha!! I needed a new life plan before I even got started. 

[GeeBee]

I used to fly my PA-18 with no autopilot in IFR. It can be a handful because of the light wing loading.  It all depends on the minimums in which you fly the airplane, but I believe a wing leveler is nice, but pitch control is a game changer. With it you will never get the dreaded "say altitude" as you are busy twisting knobs in rough air.

[Andy95W]

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Are you really that jealous???

No, not even a little bit.

Graduated from West Point, did more crazy stuff as an Infantry Officer than you can imagine (along with memories I wouldn’t trade).

But the bonus is that I now have the job most of your flying buddies wanted: seriously well-paid airline captain with more days off than I know what to do with.

[Pinecone]

Yeah, many of my buddies did want that and got it.

I never wanted that job. 

And am happy with my career.

[A64Pilot]

Most often I’ve not had an autopilot not in the Maule, the 210 Stec required constant trimming to hold altitude.

The Mooney has a Century 41 that I’d love to get repaired but I’ve been told if you want that to take the airplane to Oklahoma to get if fixed.

I learned IFR in a Huey, doing intersection holding with one VOR, but I was always so far behind the aircraft I just survived the course, instruments never got to be fun until airplanes.

Personally I don’t think I’d fly a Zenith IFR myself, that’s what the Mooney is for

[PT20J]

The wing leveler keeps you from killing yourself if you get distracted. The altitude hold keeps you from getting busted for a loss of separation if you get distracted. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 10/18/2022 at 6:29 PM, A64Pilot said:

Most often I’ve not had an autopilot not in the Maule, the 210 Stec required constant trimming to hold altitude.

The Mooney has a Century 41 that I’d love to get repaired but I’ve been told if you want that to take the airplane to Oklahoma to get if fixed.

I learned IFR in a Huey, doing intersection holding with one VOR, but I was always so far behind the aircraft I just survived the course, instruments never got to be fun until airplanes.

Personally I don’t think I’d fly a Zenith IFR myself, that’s what the Mooney is for

I would call @Jake@BevanAviation or @Bob Weber way before I took it to Autopilots Central. I have heard horror stories of $5000 repairs in Oklahoma and it still not being right. These guys both really know their stuff.