I know that lots of folks saw Tru Trak?s prototype demo of the low-cost ECO autopilot at Oshkosh a few months ago, and many looked forward to seeing it in action. I got a chance to fly it this weekend with Andrew in the Tru Trak RV-10, and I have to tell you folks ? this is revolutionary from both a cost and performance perspective. For $1,000, you get a two-axis autopilot that will hold heading, track a Nav source, and hold altitude ? the three things we all do with our autopilots about 95% of the time. For a VFR pilot, it is hard to think of anything else that you absolutely NEED. It has good control authority (I couldn?t tell much difference between it and Sorcerer installed in the airplane as well), and a unique feel ? because it flies with trim tabs, rather than manipulating the controls.
And then there is the Envelope Protection ? another cool feature that could very well make a huge contribution to GA safety.
I did a little write-up about it HERE, and there will be a full review in Kitplanes in an upcoming issue.
Paul