Which S-tec

[Jay]

[Chuck Lee]

[Hansmeister]

I had John VanBladeren install the C2000 per his recommendation. It works flawlessly.

Compare prices of the C2000 with Stec 60-2, which are comparable in capability. That may help you decide.

[SLIMDREDGER]

Jay: Until recently, I was unaware that American Avionics, Boeing Field, Seattle, Wa. would repair Century auto pilots. I have in the past gone to Billings, MT for auto pilot repair. (8 hrs RT!)

American has the harnesses, etc. to test and work on the Century I II and III. Tom worked on my airplane and my Century III is working better than it did when it was first installed.

Al Powers ICS 2978

[Jay]

Al, that's good to know about Century in Seattle! Lots of folks out there looking for help on that one, I'll pass it along.

Just an add on about the 2000. One of the things I like is the modular nature. You can start with a basic one axis trim prompting autopilot. Then you can add pitch and altitude hold with trim prompting. Then you can add autotrim. Then you can add GPSS. Then you can add altitude pre-select and alerting. Then you can go the whole hog and add a flight director. Or you can mix and match the features that you want. Lot's of flexibility.

I've flown in a few airplanes with S-Tec and BK rate based autopilots lately, and I was not impressed. They wander a bit, especially in any bumps compared to an attitude based A/P.

Best,

Jay

[comancherookie]

After all the input, I went with the Century 2000 with altitude hold and GPSS and also installed Bendix King slaved electronic HSI. I had a light out on the unit, so flew to Century in Mineral Wells,Texas. The original avionics shop had fried a circuit card in the unit and kinked the static air line in two places. Two days to fix it at no charge and they were very easy to work with. I've flown from Nevada to Florida and Nevada to Cape Cod since. Performs flawlessly and is very gentle. Love the altitude hold, it's a must have. I really like the large autopilot buttons on the panel, but I had to relocate the transponder.
I've been showing my wife how to use the heading on the HSI and up/down on the autopilot to get her back to an airport if something happened to me. She is very happy to have this ability as she has no desire to actually learn to fly, although she prefers flying in the Comanche vs commercial planes.
One thing I've noticed is that once a while, while using the GPSS on the Garmin 430, the airplane will suddenly veer left or right for about 30 seconds then resume heading. I believe that this is a course shift based on signals received by the different satellites and it has proven to be no problem, but it was very surprising the first time it happened. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

[Jay]

My Century 2000 has similar hiccups. Only occurs in HDG mode, never more frequently than once every few hours.

[N8632Y]

If you do not have a WAAS receiver, only the 430, would you need an autopilot w/ GPSS, or separate GPSS unit like the Icarus?
OF course if u'r planning for future updates.
I have the century 2000 installed within the past 2 yrs, had a possible issue recently, called the shop that did the installation, and they said they do not work on them anymore.
My issues were more questions, so i didn't pursue, but something to note.
The autopilot in itself is great, no complaints, even in moderate turbulence.
steve

[md11flyer]

Get a salvaged altimatic 3c.... altitude hold..altitude preselect..fully coupled ils...
Just kidding! (although mine is rock solid coupled to the garmin 430 and holds altitude better than
the soft hold on the md11!)
I just wanted to add that I know of 2 owners that installed S tec autopilots without auto trim,
and within a year went back to get that option installed. With the upgrade comes the extra cost of opening up the airplane for the install and with sending the unit back to stec for the upgrade and down time of course.
Both commented that the trim beeper was very annoying in turb and for the price they paid for the autopilot they felt nobody should
sell an autopilot without the autotrim feature.
Now if the extra dollars aren't there and you really want the basic autopilot... ok, but if you think the extra dollars aren't worth spending for the autotrim
they both say rethink it.

Yeah, it sure is easy giving advice when it's somebody elses money!

For me, I will stick with the altimatic 3.

Gary

[comancherookie]

Steve,
The GPSS with the Century in Nav mode allows the autopilot to follow the pink line. It really frees you up to look at the map and play with the VOR's to confirm your location on a long cross country, very helpful if satellite signal fades (I had this happen near Reno). It really increases your ability to keep aware of the aircraft while also allowing you to scan outside. Also, if ATC gives you a heading, a quick push of the nav button on the GPSS annunciator and rotate the heading bug on the HSI and you are on course. Soooo easy. (I advise keeping the heading bug near you actual heading when using the GPSS or selecting HDG on the annunciator could give you a bit of a start when the airplane suddenly turns toward the bug.) Having the EHSI course and heading arrows gives you an instantaneous indication of wind direction
The only thing you don't get that the WAAS provides is the ability to let the autopilot fly approaches. The autopilot does follow an ILS. I'm still learning all the capabilities, but since I don't have my IFR rating, my learning rate is somewhat slowed.
Jon

[N8632Y]

Jon,
A good autopilot is essential on long trips, keeps you fresh and i agree on heading bug and HSI pointed same place, almost.
The GPSS w/' WAAS 430/530 also allows autopilot to fly course reversal, hold patterns forever, missed approaches, curved DME's.....
but, they can fool you, so i always monitor mine,,,always...
steve

[Mark Anderson]

I put the S TEC 30 in my 250 and love it. I cannot imagine a X country flight without it. I too was warned about the trim light and buzzer driving you crazy. I have not had any issues with that. Once I reach my altitude I let the trim settle out and make sure it is good and neutral before I select it. I have found it to do well in turbulence also. The only weak point if there is one to me is the AP engage button on the TC. Mine cracked once and had to replace it. Just plastic. Also I find the Altitude engage light on the TC to be too bright at night and annoying. I like the fact that it saves panel space. To me the TC is not an instrument of huge importance anyway. The 50 does exact same thing, just more space is required. The GPSS is definitely worth the $1600 or so. The Aspen has the GPSS built in, but I opted for a traditional HSI, S TEC 180, I bought off E Bay. I feel the turn rate system is superior, especially in conduction with GPSS.

[Mark Anderson]

Also I think how well the Altitude hold function works without electric trim depends on the aircraft. The Comanche is a very stable IFR platform with high wing loading. Not a lot of jumping around. However in a lighter slower airplane such as a C 172 it may not get as good of performance. I also cruise between 9-12K feet where it is generally smoother. Down low on a hot day close to redline on IAS will giver poor performance. As solid as mine is working it would be a waste of money to me.

[femski]

I have S-tec 50 and I like it. Rarely have trim up/down prompt - I beleive its not a problem in Comanches but other planes.

On my immediate term wish list is an autopilot like 55X that can fly given vertical speeds and intercept/fly glideslope. I think that would make me more comfortable doing IFR approaches. But its a very expensive upgrade to go from S-tec 50 to something like 60-2 or 55X - not much less than a new autopilot. I don't quite understand claims of S-tec and Century about modularity and upgradeability.

May be better to upgrade to a digital autopilot directly if it were to become available. A digital autopilot gives you envelope protection - meaning it won't let the plane stall or exceed its performance boundary. Also, it can fly GPS V-NAV - so if you have a WAAS GPS - it will fly the glideslope directly. And it can fly indicated airspeed which I think will be useful for constant airspeed climbs. I am not sure when we will have this for certified world. There used to be Chelton AP-3C but it had problems and it was discontinued when Chelton and S-tec merged into Cobham.

Avidyne DFC 90 digital autopilot may soon be an option though. DFC 90 replaces the the S-tec 55X controller reusing the servos. Currently requires Avidyne. Will work with Aspen soon. Not sure if it will be STCed in Comanche but tat may make an upgrade o S-tec 55X worthwhile.

-Sanjay

[comancherookie]

I just finishes a flight through the Seattle area in MVFR conditions. I was flying under the ceiling on altitude hold, using the heading bug to steer. What a workload reliever. All I had to do was pick my route between the scattered showers and look for traffic and other threats to my existence and turn the bug. I strongly recommend as much autopilot as you can afford, even if you only fly vfr. I have no doubt I was much safer because I could concentrate on my surroundings more. I even had the luxury to be able to look at the map occasionally to verify my position against the GPS.