Fcs810 install

I am in the market for a single engine Bonanza and am amazed by the number of different autopilots that have been installed in them over the years. A well functioning, maintainable 2-axis autopilot is a must have for me, so which ones fit that bill and which don't. Which ones of these or others should I avoid, which ones are worth taking a chance on, and which are the ones you wish you owned?

Thanks for your comments. Warren Last edited on 13 Jun , , edited 2 times in total. The Century 3 system and above would be able to get the job done but you might run into some interface issues with some glass installs. I would add the S-tec I'm only commenting as a user, but all of the following have some value: And I've used everyone of them.

I have not included Brittain because of my only experience was bad and there's limited support. Today there is no "killer" good autopilot Although it is a vintage analog autopilot, it works very well now that the gremlins are out of it.

The roll mode works very well, tracks the bug and radio signals well, compensates for wind and automatically computes intercept angles. It has auto trim, pitch mode, altitude hold and glideslope tracking.

Is anyone familure with the FCS or autopilots. If so what are your thoughts? Thanks in advance. And while there are a samll number of avionics shops that will work on it, it comes at a fairly high cost.

Some parts, primarily in the servos, cannot be bought at any price. I have a Bendix on my A36 and it works great. I have one in my A and love it. It is coupled to a W. Several years ago, I had Autopilot Central go through it to correct some minor issues. It has worked flawlessly since. I highly recommend them if you need any repairs. I have one in my Baron C55 and am very happy with it. I just had it overhauled by Autopilot Central for a reasonable price and am looking forward to many more years with it.

If you can keep it running it's a great autopilot. The 55X has more capabilities, but the Bendix was smoother. Turn coordinators are electric and are considerably more reliable than a vacuum-based artificial horizon.

Plus, a vacuum pump failure is more likely to occur vs. In short, an all-electric, rate-based autopilot has less pathways to an inflight failure. Today, all STEC autopilots are rate-based. Single axis roll only autopilots keep the wings level and most can track an omni, GPS or localizer. This is a real nice feature if you spend a lot of time in controlled airspace where vectoring is frequent.

Roll-only autopilots have no way to sense or control altitude. In fact, better two-axis autopilots can add additional altitude features like altitude pre-select and vertical speed control.

It should be fairly obvious that the more sophisticated the aircraft, the more sophisticated the autopilot. It consisted of a remote-mounted rate gyro, a servo, and a panel-mounted switch.

Turn it on, and the wings would or should remain level. An optional tracker was available which allowed the unit to track a VOR bearing. It worked, but reliability was an issue.

As more capable autopilots were developed using vacuum gyros, the all-electric AutoFlite was sometimes installed as a backup to the system in the event of a failure of the primary autopilot. The AutoFlite II was an upgrade to the original model with a panel-mounted turn-coordinator rate gyro , which also served as the controller and a servo. Omni tracking was built-in. It was an all-electric, rate-based wing-leveler with tracking, but had no ability to maintain a heading.

This unit went through a few modifications over the years and later became known as the Century I, which is still being marketed by Century today. Back then, Mitchell was also making gyros, and the AutoControl I was a single-axis autopilot that used a 4-inch attitude gyro as the roll sensor. Nav tracking was not available. This system is not viable today.

Prior to , Piper had introduced their first attempt at a two-axis, attitude-based autopilot in the Altimatic II. It had some unique features like dial-up altitude and autotrim back then, the need to re-trim was sensed by cable tension.

Today, an Altimatic II is not a viable system and maintenance is a poor investment. Introduced around , the Piper Autocontrol III is a attitude-based, single-axis autopilot with full roll control including nav, localizer and today GPS tracking.

It also introduced heading hold with the addition of an autopilot directional gyro or HIS, and an optional radio coupler was available that allowed the pilot to chose between multiple nav sources or heading hold. Around , Piper introduced the AutoControl IIIB with a redesigned controller and improved design and electronics, thus moving reliability up yet another notch. One weakness in these systems is servo failure, which can sometimes lead to an electrical failure.

Nonetheless, these autopilots are worth maintaining. This was a full-featured two-axis autopilot with all the capability of the AutoControls in roll-axis, but with the addition of altitude hold and autotrim was standard. Plus, an optional radio coupler allowed access to multiple nav sources. Glideslope coupling and altitude pre-select were also optional. Note that the early versions had issues with altitude pre-select, and the altitude bellows were prone to failure. The IIIB-1 added a better altitude control sensor and pitch wheel oeration.

Reliability improved with each model. At this point, you have a relatively modern, full-featured two-axis autopilot with autotrim, altitude hold, and glideslope coupling. The IIIC is very capable and reliable as long as it remains healthy.