Paul 5r4
Well Known Member
I've recently installed the Dynon AP servoes and AP74 in my RV 7A. Here are my thoughts so far. This is the only AP I've ever flown with so I have nothing else as a base line to compare. I was told by a few experts that if I was going to actually use it for hard IFR, (I'm a VFR only flier), to install the TT otherwise I'd probably be perfectly happy with the Dynon. They were right! I've now flown a few hours with it and can say in all modes, it functions flawlessly! I have a Dynon D100 and D120 along with an ifly 720 for situational awarness. After installing the servos which was easy as pie even in my already built aircraft, then hooking up everything with the harness supplied by Stein Air which was also a piece of cake.... cake/pie, I can't decide... everything worked almost perfectly! The only thing that needed fine tuning was the rate of turn in degrees. I had it set for 3/sec with a max bank angle of 25 degrees. This caused a bit of "wandering" in the turn. I read on VAF to set the degrees per second to 0 and let it turn on it's own. Now it's perfect! I have about 1100 hours and 265 of that in the RV. As easy and delightful as these airplanes are to fly, it's really a JOY to let the AP do some of that work and concentrate on other important task... traffic scans, naviagating etc. Another big plus is the safety margin it adds for a VFR only guy like me. If I were to ever find myself in a not so visible situation, you can bet the very first act would be to engage this thing. It has the 180 degree safety feature for just this purpose, push and hold for three seconds and it'll take you back to the hopefully still VFR weather you came from. In each mode it tracks altitude close enough for me to report dead on! The heading is pretty close as well never wandering more that a degree or two from the assigned heading. It tracks the ifly GPS perfectly as well. Like I mentioned, I have about 1100 hours and now have a couple with this autopilot... I didn't know I had been working way to hard.
I hope this helps others in their decesion making process.
I hope this helps others in their decesion making process.