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AP's again

H

houndsfour

Active Member
I know this subject has been around for awhile but I'm almost ready to order a Trio "Pro Pilot" auto pilot system.
Just wondering if any one has any experence with the Pro Pilot system.
Thanks
Rich
RV-6 N721ET
300 hrs.
 
Trio Pro Pilot

Rich,

We have one in our -6. With an external switch, we can drive it from our Apollo GX60 IFR GPS, or the Garmin 496. Either way, it works great, but especially with the GPSS commands from the GX60. We may have the only GX60 to ProPilot installation in the world, I don't know, but it is an excellent combination in my opinion. Of course GNS 430W's are a lot more common these days and if that's the way you want to go, check to see if Trio has the ARINC GPSS and GPSV functionality ready to ship yet.

Vertical speed, altitude capture, altitude hold all work like they are supposed to. Personally I wouldn't bother with the autotrim feature in a 2-seater RV, but it is available as an option.

One thing to keep in mind with the ProPilot, is that it is what the Trio guys call a "fully featured autopilot". It does a lot of things that might otherwise be done by other instruments... Displaying BTW, DTK, XTK, next waypoint identifier, ETE, rate of turn, fuel flow and mpg, etc., etc. Even if the functionality is duplicated elsewhere in your panel, redundancy can be a good thing.

--Paul
 
houndsfour said:
I know this subject has been around for awhile but I'm almost ready to order a Trio "Pro Pilot" auto pilot system.
Just wondering if any one has any experence with the Pro Pilot system.
Thanks
Rich
RV-6 N721ET
300 hrs.
Click to expand...

Rich,'

You will find the Pro Pilot to be a very, very capable system that performs as advertised. The customer service is first rate as well.

I upgraded to the Pro Pilot about a year ago after flying the other Trio devices for several years. My hangarmate just installed a Pro in his-6A.

Enjoy!
 
Sam and paul,
Thank you both for your input. I have my bean counter's ok so I'll be ordering the Pro pilot shortly.
One other question. were did you mount the aileron servo? I have and old Navaid system now and the servo in under the seat. I have never been able to adjust the pitch input out of a turn. You know, left turn - climb, right turn - dive just ever so slightly. Drives me nuts.

Thanks again
Rich
RV-6 N721ET
 
houndsfour said:
Sam and paul,
Thank you both for your input. I have my bean counter's ok so I'll be ordering the Pro pilot shortly.
One other question. were did you mount the aileron servo? I have and old Navaid system now and the servo in under the seat. I have never been able to adjust the pitch input out of a turn. You know, left turn - climb, right turn - dive just ever so slightly. Drives me nuts.

Thanks again
Rich
RV-6 N721ET
Click to expand...

Rich,

The easiest installation for a flying RV-6 will be to mount the servo on the tip wing rib provided the wingtips are not riveted. A pushrod can then go to the mid-wing aileron bellcrank. This method has been used many times since it is nearly impossible to work in the very confined area of the -6's single wing inspection port.

Here are some ideas:

http://thervjournal.com/navaid.html
 
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