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Autopilot Dynon?

wings444

Member
Time to install the autopilot. Currently have a new never installed
Nav-aid wing leveler and would like the newer Dynon full 2 axis unit .Have the D10a.
Although every one seems happy with the 10a has anyone had experience with the autopilot or have any great advice.
 
I have an RV-4 with a D10A with the roll and pitch servos coupled to a 496. I have had no issues with its operation. I had an RV-6 with a Navaid. The Dynon is an improvement with software adjustable gains and turn rates. I normally operate coupled to the GPS and do not have the optional control module. I have an autopilot release button on the stick. When I release the autopilot then reactivate it, the system returns to the HEADING mode unless I again select the NAV mode.

The heading and altitude bugs are a very nice feature. I especially like the ability to climb and descend to specified altitude at a selected rate.

I installed the roll servo in the wing because I have recessed foot wells, electric flaps and the strobe power supply under the seat. The wing installation was difficult in a finished wing as Dynon doesn't make a kit for the RV-4 wing installation.

I a recent round trip between Minneapolis and Waco, Texas, there were no issues with its performance.

Ken
 
Video

Ken,

Great video of the -6A on your site! Someone will be lucky to get that great plane now that it is for sale.
 
W444,

I have an RV-6 with a D100 (bus master, so it communicates with the AP) and a D10A, Dynon P&R servos and an AP-74. Been flying with it for about a month (maybe 15 hours), so these are early observations (and a caveat here...this is my first AP install, and first small airplane AP, so I'll not claim anything like expertise in this...just observations of "Joe the Pilot"! ;)):

It's taken a little effort to tweak the settings for a ride I like, but I expected that, and am pretty pleased overall. I have more tweaking to go, but Dynon has been really helpful (on the phone and on their forum).

It's a pretty new product, and though extensively field tested, there is a learning curve to go through, and there have been some possible bugs (pitch occilations, heading and nav course chasing, possible play in the servo arms to name a couple) that have been discussed here and on Dynon's forum, and are being diligently worked on, both by Dynon and by those flying the AP. I've been able to tweak it to the point where most of the pitch occilations are gone, though they sometimes still happen, and heading and nav tracking are pretty darn good (for me, nav has been more solid than heading, though both are decent). I played with setting up a VNAV descent in the 396 today, displayed it on the EFIS, and then set up a 500 fpm descent with the AP, and it did a pretty good job matching my VNAV profile (not coupled of course, but it did what I wanted it to do). Flew a 2.6 X-C today, and much of it was on AP, so it did pretty well, except when it got a bit bumpy over the mountains.

The AP-74 is really nice to use...not sure if you are considering it, but for me it was well worth the $$. Lot's of nice features that I'm using (like altimeter setting, heading and altitude bug setting, mode presets, etc.). I haven't played much with controlling the AP through the EFIS buttons yet. If you are not going to install an AP-74, it may be worth asking how people like day to day ops using the buttons (s'posed to be easy, but feedback from those with no AP-74 would be valuable to the overall decision).

I've flown a friend's RV-9 with a TT, and it was really smooth. Set the bar for where I want to get with my Dynon set up, and I think I'll get there. I couldn't begin to compare TT/Trio/Dynon AP's, but I think Dynon is working hard to make their AP system a good one in a field of quality APs!

I've seen discussions of separate EFIS/AP system types for redundancy, but mine is a VFR set-up, so I'm comfortable with the all-Dynon system. Just another factor to consider, dependent on your mission, desires and tastes.

Just some thoughts from a knucklehead...hope they are of value to you!
 
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