What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV-7A Dynon AP settings

jcarne

Well Known Member
Patron
Hello everyone, anyone care to share what auto pilot sensitivity and gain settings work for you? I'm looking for a starting point here. My roll is pretty good but the pitch axis needs a fair amount of work. Thanks!

Searched the forums but the threads are old and I don't know what system they are running. Mine is HDX.
 
Jereme
I have an AFS setup with mostly Dynon components. The AFS 5600 manual contains an excellent matrix for fine tuning their autopilots. Maybe this will be of help, it is available for
download on their website.
 
Last edited:
Jereme
I have an AFS setup with mostly Dynon components. The AFS 5600 manual contains an excellent matrix for fine tuning their autopilots. Maybe this will be of help, it is available for
download on their website.

Ya Dynon has a really nice one as well (I'm betting they are the same). I will follow this matrix but was wondering if someone had some settings that worked for them so that I could cut out a bit of the time involved. Not opposed to flying by any means but I like to look out the window not in. :D
 
I dont remember the software version number but the latest update made a big improvement to the A/P handling
 
I dont remember the software version number but the latest update made a big improvement to the A/P handling

I am running the latest version and didn't notice much of a change. It is pretty good in smooth air but the slightest turbulence causes it to hunt and never settle on the set altitude. After doing some more research (and currently using the default settings) I have a feeling I am going to have to take my sensitivity up a fair amount. I have seen numbers on -8 and -10s but no -7s. Default pitch sensitivity is 10 and I'm hearing numbers in those models closer to 18-20. Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend. haha I'll probably start at 15 and see if I get any twitchiness before increasing it per the flow chart.
 
Dynon says

I have set up several aircraft with Dynon Skyview systems. Dynon recommends you begin autopilot tuning with values at the default settings. Go through the Autopilot Tuning Guide one step at a time starting at the beginning. Do it IN ORDER. Stop tuning when the autopilot performance is good. I have never had to go past the first two steps in pitch or roll. Do not look for what you think the area you want is and start there. You likely will not care for the results. I have had to fix two planes that were done this way and the owner still wasn't happy. Resetting to default values and proceeding in order fixed both.
 
Follow the flowchart

Ditto, with what skysailor said. I replaced my TT 385 with Dynon, when I updated my panel to HDX. I was happy with the roll response at default settings, but pitch would oscillate some, after a disturbance. As I recall, I ended up increasing the pitch sensitivity from 10 (default) to 20. I did not change the gain. The Dynon instructions and tuning flowchart are good.
 
I'll grab my settings tomorrow while flying but have tweaked settings a number of times in different scenarios (smooth/bumpy/drafts) and am very happy with its performance. As noted previously, roll needed no changes. I increased sensitivity a few times and made minor changes to gain.
 
I'll grab my settings tomorrow while flying but have tweaked settings a number of times in different scenarios (smooth/bumpy/drafts) and am very happy with its performance. As noted previously, roll needed no changes. I increased sensitivity a few times and made minor changes to gain.

Looking forward to it Ray. I did some tweaking yesterday but the air was pretty dang smooth so I'm yet to see if I went too far. I followed the Dynon procedure so I am interested to see how our numbers compare.
 
Jereme, If you were able to get some numbers I'd like to compare. I've been tweaking mine a bit.

Glad you reminded me birddog, I hate it when a thread has no follow up!

I ended up changing my low and high sensitivity on the pitch axis to 18. I followed the Dynon IAS hold procedure until the sensitivity resulted in a less that 1 knot overshoot. I have since flown a couple of long cross countries through some bumps with it and so far I think it is pretty dang good! Even in some chop it only hunts up and down about 20-50 feet.

I still don't have a good explanation of what the difference between high and low sensitivity is though as the manual doesn't mention the low sensitivity at all. Nothing else was changed except the two sensitivity settings. I would love to hear your numbers as well.
 
Back
Top