jthocker
Well Known Member
Got a chance to check out the capabilities of my new G3X panel this weekend.
The G3X in and of itself is phenomenal and I will save any words on that for later. I wanted to report about the Tru trak GX pilot. I have flown tru tracks many times before and have always been impressed. The Dynon autopilot I recently removed was very adequate after MUCH tweaking. I flew it IFR numerous times and would not hesitate to install one again. It kept the "pink" line centered all the way to the runway.
The GX pilot on the other hand is AMAZING. For example, with the Dynon, while flying a long cross country in formation I would not engage the autopilot if I was following a Tru Trak. It would constantly converge or diverge from the other aircraft. It was never enough to displace the cdi, and would not be noticed if you weren't flying in formation, but still it was annoying enough for me just to hand fly it. Yesterday, leaving Halls, TN following an airshow, Fellow G3X/ GX pilot Greg "Greese" Reese and I climbed to 11,500 and headed for Cincinnati ( LUK).
Greg let the autopilot fly up to altitude, while I hand flew his wing. Upon level off, and established in "route" position, I engaged the autopilot direct LUK. Greg was at full throttle and I required something less. I found a setting that was LOP, and from there on I only touched the mixture control to vary fore and aft position. The "TWIN" autopilots kept us both vertically and horizontally spaced identically. They did this for over 250 nm.
I installed the GX pilot out of the box, looking only at the wiring diagram, tested the servos, clipped a pitch reversal wire, and flew it. I still have not looked at the rest of the installation manual, nor have I adjusted any settings.
There's also a GDL 39 to report on, and also the "Back up" comm to my PAR 100 EX, a GTN 650!! I've made 2 long cross countries the last 2 weekends, and the 650 never left the "start up" page!
The G3X in and of itself is phenomenal and I will save any words on that for later. I wanted to report about the Tru trak GX pilot. I have flown tru tracks many times before and have always been impressed. The Dynon autopilot I recently removed was very adequate after MUCH tweaking. I flew it IFR numerous times and would not hesitate to install one again. It kept the "pink" line centered all the way to the runway.
The GX pilot on the other hand is AMAZING. For example, with the Dynon, while flying a long cross country in formation I would not engage the autopilot if I was following a Tru Trak. It would constantly converge or diverge from the other aircraft. It was never enough to displace the cdi, and would not be noticed if you weren't flying in formation, but still it was annoying enough for me just to hand fly it. Yesterday, leaving Halls, TN following an airshow, Fellow G3X/ GX pilot Greg "Greese" Reese and I climbed to 11,500 and headed for Cincinnati ( LUK).
Greg let the autopilot fly up to altitude, while I hand flew his wing. Upon level off, and established in "route" position, I engaged the autopilot direct LUK. Greg was at full throttle and I required something less. I found a setting that was LOP, and from there on I only touched the mixture control to vary fore and aft position. The "TWIN" autopilots kept us both vertically and horizontally spaced identically. They did this for over 250 nm.
I installed the GX pilot out of the box, looking only at the wiring diagram, tested the servos, clipped a pitch reversal wire, and flew it. I still have not looked at the rest of the installation manual, nor have I adjusted any settings.
There's also a GDL 39 to report on, and also the "Back up" comm to my PAR 100 EX, a GTN 650!! I've made 2 long cross countries the last 2 weekends, and the 650 never left the "start up" page!