Im inclined to buy a wing leveler or autopilot .
Im more inclined to the experimental ones (lot cheaper)
Its for a 182 , in Costa Rica should be ok to install.

Anyone experience with experimental type autopilot or wing leveler?
recomendation?

Trutrak are pretty well behaved... if you could get one installed. It would never happen in the states. For a 182.
At least not one that is approved and insured for hull !!!!
What does gas cost there now?

Starting with the obvious, and with an admission that you surely know far better than I do on this subject, are you sure that experimental is the way you want to go. Even if it's legal in your domain it changes what you'll later be able to do with the plane.

My experience is with certified aircraft and I've been happier than I expected with s-tec/Cobham stuff. I think they also make experimental versions, but their website sucks so it's kind of hard to say for sure.

For me, I would go autopilot rather than wing leveler. Going through all the hassle and cost to not get more capability seems like one of those incremental steps that just ends up costing you more money in the long run. Heck, I'm already annoyed that the plane I just bought only has a single axis autopilot. It's not that I *can't* fly a plane with just a single axis or no autopilot, but we do some long-ish travel days. I fail to see the value add to me holding altitude and periodically adjusting trim instead of outsourcing that to Otto so I can better enjoy the flight.

Cobham killed any customer support starting a few years ago. STEC autopilots are great hardware... but a bit of black magic is needed to get them working right. Shops are frustrated now... since Cobham has fired all the people with knowledge. Just be aware, before you purchase.

S TEC are only certified if installed by an authorized dealer.
We dont have a dealer in Costa Rica.

What about a Trutrak, they put them in Lancairs and warbirds, why not a Cessna 182?

I've had some experience with 2 "all the bells & whistles" autopilots, the King KFC225 with flight director and KCS55 HSI. One was in a Mooney 231 that I flew extensively for a couple of years, and the other was in a T210 that I was partnered in for about a year. Both of these had altitude capture/hold, in addition to the usual nav/trak, heading/trak, etc. Both handled coupled approaches smoothly. Terrific boxes, when they worked well. When they glitched, they were as annoying as anything, and taught me not to trust even the most sophisticated of autopilots, which these were at the time.

I can't tell you how many times each glitched, but on the average, probably once every other flight. Most of the time, it was just shutting off without warning, and without any fault indication, other than the "on" light would go off, and the airplane would gradually drift from its heading or course or altitude if I didn't notice the light was out. Sometimes the autopilot would remain on, but one or the other of its axis would go offline, like it would stop holding altitude but stay on course, or lose its way but continue to hold altitude.

The single most unsafe glitch that occurred was in the Mooney, when late one night I was enroute to Newcastle from Laramie, and for no reason that I could ever determine, it suddenly commanded a hard right turn. I reacted too slowly to shut it off, and by then it had deviated about 90 degrees and lost altitude, enough that Center called and asked if things were OK. A later inspection by the avionics shop couldn't determine the cause.

As a result, I defaulted to only using the autopilot in either airplane, or in any other airplane I've flown with less sophisticated autopilots, when I need to look at a chart--no more coupled approaches! Otherwise, I just hand fly, and that works for me. My LRB doesn't have an autopilot, and I don't need one. Most of my flights are relatively short, only an hour or two, except for the occasional Angel Flight and the annual OSH flight, which is nearly 8 hours flight time. The expense of installing any autopilot is just more than I need, even if they all worked without fail.

Regarding putting a non-TSO'd autopilot in a certificated airplane, while it may be legal in CR (you'd want to make absolutely certain), it would make the airplane non-airworthy just about anywhere else, whether in the US, Canada, or Europe. I wouldn't recommend it.

Cary

Cary thanks for sharing your experience.
Makes me think if it is worth it for me.
My flights are short (1 hr or so) but can IMC can get very challenging, and minimums are very common.

If I spend those $10,000 of the cost for an autopilot in real IFR training...... maybe wont need one?

By the way fuel now is $7.20
Each landing at my local airport $9.60
Parking $6.00 an hr

Super expensive!!!!!

Well, parking by the hour. That is a new one for me. I am thinking somebody is just saying bend over, shut your eyes.
Back on autopilots... I have had similar experiences. Seems they work fine in day, VFR... when you don't need them.
Get in hard soup... and watch out. I even had a Caravan autopilot lock up the servos when teaching some Navy special warfare types. The disconnect switch did not respond. The wrong breaker got pulled... since it was down low by a leg.
Had to slip the clutches all the way down to touchdown. A 421 I flew got into mountain wave up high one day. I watched the autpilot altitude hold drive the nose all the way up to the stall. I watched, just to see how far it would go.
In ice one night, I got a surprise when I finally hand flew. A lot of load was being carried that I was unaware of.
They are black magic...they do need attention often. They are not cheap. Flying is fun. Just hold the controls.
And take a friend along when you need to. They can be taught to hold altitude real well.... just ask my wife.

Having used autopilots in 2 planes, a Century in a 182 and now TruTrak in the Bearhawk, I'll second what was said in previous posts about them not being all that reliable. For VFR, I like to use them just to make long cross country's easier and less fatiguing. They also save fuel by keeping me on course; otherwise, I fly to what ever I'm looking at, wandering around the sky like a drunken sailor and adding extra distance to the trip. Both AP's have failed on me multiple times; the most scary one almost put me in the ground on a dark night in the 182. IMHO, seconding the other posts, they are good for VFR, but could get you in serious trouble IFR.

They reduce the workload a lot. I'm much less fatigued when Auto flys the trip. Once in a while, I consider removing the AP to reduce weight, about 10 lbs for a 2-axis TruTrak Digiflight II including mounts, but it is just too useful not to keep since I fly a lot of x-country.

Is there no such thing as a reliable auto-pilot?

Yes, all you need is wheelbarrows full of money. $20k on up might do it, but you better have a good way to monitor its performance, too.

Fisherman wrote:Is there no such thing as a reliable auto-pilot?