Bendix King AeroCruze 230

[jkgyr52]

Has anyone installed a AeroCruze 230? I am considering going this route as the controller on my M20K BK KFC 150 has frequent issues needing repair.

 

Jeff

[KSMooniac]

I don't think it ever made it into the shops. And I don't you'll find a dealer that considers it a good choice these days. It is not the BK of 40 years ago...

I'd suggest investigating repairs with Bevan Aviation, Mid Continent Instrument, and perhaps Bob Weber for an initial consult.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[cbarry]

I was considering installing the 230 in place of a KFC150,  so I called the company to ask a few questions.  I wanted to know the level of integration it would have with the G600 and found out only the heading control would remain functional on the G600 and all other control functions turned into bug function only (altitude, vs…).  This would not be dissimilar, I believe, to having the GFC500 installed instead.  The control/preselect functions mostly reside with the AP control head.  Not really an issue, just how it would function.  The second thing I was reminded of was the current servos, if good, could stay.  This was somewhat attractive, but it was hard to tell whether this could turn into a partially new AP system still being problematic (not to say that even a fully new system from another manufacturer wouldn’t always be issued free).  The last thing I learned was that they had a unit ready to ship and would have a representative contact me to discuss further.  He did and  I will say the gentlemen that I spoke with were very courteous and knowledgeable.  I lost a little interest on the lack of integration with the G600 flight display and the seemingly lack of adoption rate to this point. 

[LANCECASPER]

9 hours ago, jkgyr52 said:

Has anyone installed a AeroCruze 230? I am considering going this route as the controller on my M20K BK KFC 150 has frequent issues needing repair.

 

Jeff

Yes they have. It would be interesting to hear a follow up almost three years later from @Lake Aero 

 

 

[Tim-37419]

I was interested in this topic as well so I looked up Lake Aero. Doesn’t look like they do avionics anymore based on their web page.

[jkgyr52]

All,

 

I spoke with the BK sales manager yesterday and here is what I learned:

The AeroCruz 230 requires a new tray and connectors, it has to interface with a navigator w/ AHRS, or add a separate AHRS module, to fully function properly. It has not been demonstrated to work well with an analog six pack ("steam gauges") of instruments. It was designed to interface w/ digital newer generation instruments such as Garmin G500, Aspen products and similar products.

I won't be doing this upgrade.

Jeff

[cliffy]

And the Aerocruz 100 languishes away with no cert in sight and no communications from BK as to what when or why?

Like I was told at OSH  "We got 14 flat packs ready to go for Mooney installs"

Follow on question was "What models does the cert cover"

Answer-- wait for it---   "No idea"  

[Tim-37419]

Luckily for me, my KAP 150 works perfectly but I do fear one day it simply won't. I talk to it often and with encouragement in the hopes I can buy time waiting for more cost-effective options to become available. There's no doubt the big G product is great, just don't want to sink that kind of money into my plane unless/until absolutely necessary. 

[PT20J]

The KAP/KFC 150 are good autopilots and with the number removed for upgrades, there should be a lot of serviceable used parts available. Bevan, Mid Continent and Executive still have people that know how to service them. The issue for me was simply the reliability of old avionics. I just got tired of fixing random failures. 

[KSMooniac]

I'll vouch for both Bevan and Mid Continent... I've looked "behind the curtain" and they still have real bench techs doing component-level diagnostics and repair.  Bevan is still doing repairs on GNS-series boxes and have one of mine right now for buttons and a COM board.  At least we think it is the COM board.