Adding A Wing Leveler

[kurtsnyder]

I'm wondering what kind of time and money I would be looking at to add a wing leveler to my B model. It's a great cross country plane and is stable, but even having the old wing leveler would make things so much nicer. How easy are those systems to find (in working condition) and what kind of price do they go for. Does anyone have a guess on what kind of time it would take to install?

[kerry]

I have a old pathfinder A/P wing leveler with 2 Nav inputs in my plane.  It was non op when I got the plane.  Cost about $500 to repair.  A few years ago I bought another complete pathfinder A/P off a m20f on ebay for $350.  Not sure how complex it would be to install.  Servo is in the outboard of the wing and amp is mounted aft of baggage compartment.

[Alan Fox]

Kurt , call the people at Brittain in tulsa.... They are very helpful , and they are the ONLY autopilot that can be installed by an A&p......They still service the old systems , and can put together a system for you.....Ths cores are very rare and harf to find , but are almost always serviceable...  Your airplane had an autopilot /wing leveler at one time , In not sure which...

[kurtsnyder]

Thanks Kerry and Alan. I guess I'll give Brittain a call and see what they say. I might try to find a junked Mooney and see about getting the guts out of it and having Brittain service it. I'll see...

[N601RX]

The wing leveler is a simple system.  It consist of the turn coordinator, 4 servos and on off valve.  You will also have to find the 4 mounting brackets for the servos, so your best bet may be to look for a salvage plane to get the entire system from.  The wing servos and bracket are in a very tight place to get to.

[Alan Fox]

Kurts plane is my old plane... It had some sort of servo on the back of the yokeshaft that I removed , I dont think it was a brittain , I have never seen any thing like it , it was electro mechanical...

[lamont337]

Thanks Kerry and Alan. I guess I'll give Brittain a call and see what they say. I might try to find a junked Mooney and see about getting the guts out of it and having Brittain service it. I'll see...

 

I got a quote from LASAR about a year and a half ago for all parts including accutrak. About 3K if I remember correctly, but then they would have had to go to Brittain to be inspected/tagged. (Never got a quite from Brittain but I've heard its reasonable) Then I read an article that stated in order to install a PC system in an older model, I would have to replace my "curved" aileron with the later symetrical style:

 

"Incidently, this aileron change is required if retrofitting a PC system or an autopilot to a pre'65 model Mooney."

 

http://www.mooneypilots.com/mapalog/m20e.html

 

Of course that was from the M20E evaluation report, but I also have the curved ailerons on my C.  Something to consider...

[Alan Fox]

You have to call brittain , the earlier models use a servo in the cockpit , not the wings.....I have a whole system from an E including accutrack that I would sell a lot cheaper than 3k...

[kerry]

 

Kurts plane is my old plane... It had some sort of servo on the back of the yokeshaft that I removed , I dont think it was a brittain , I have never seen any thing like it , it was electro mechanical...

 I had one of those in my earlier plane. It was called an Airboy and was made by Mitchell. It froze up on me and locked up my alerions. Luckily it happend on the ground.

[jbgood11X]

hi kurt    if you do decide to install system i have a complete one out of a 66  E  model     let me know   johnnyb1026    at   yahoo.com  thnx   or   815 210 2675

[jbgood11X]

p.s    have the ailerons off an e model also   don't know if they will fit your a/c   thnx  john

[Chap]

Kurt's B model probably did not come with a wing leveler originally. PC was first introduced in 1965. His plane was built in 1961.

Jim

74795,

My 64 C model came from the factory with the PC system.  I am not sure when it was introduced.

Chap

[kurtsnyder]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll give Brittain a call and see what they say. I'm wondering if it;s going to end up being more trouble than it's worth. I'll let everyone know what I hear from them and what my A&P thinks as well. It would sure be nice to have something!

[HRM]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll give Brittain a call and see what they say. I'm wondering if it;s going to end up being more trouble than it's worth. I'll let everyone know what I hear from them and what my A&P thinks as well. It would sure be nice to have something!

 

The Brittain wing leveler is incredible--I frankly cannot imagine the plane without it. Makes everything better, especially windy, bumpy flights.

 

I went out with a CFII for some IFR training and he said, "You have excellent rudder skills!" I almost never touch the rudder pedals, he did not know what a PC system was.