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I am looking to upgrade autopilot and have the following avionics in our 1973 Piper PA-28-180
My understanding is that the new STEC digital 3100 autopilot is not approved for PA-28 and the STEC guy at Airventure told me they have to get a list of enough PA-28 owners interested before they proceed. So I am 63 and not going to wait 2 or 3 years for that to happen.
So options are to upgrade to STEC 55x (not digital but can use my same servos) or rip all the STEC stuff out and install a Garmin 500 digital autopilot. My current STECT 30 with Alt hold works great and has since install about 6 years ago. I want an autopilot with more approach capability like the 55x offers. However, the Garmin has an upset recovery mode and maybe some other features STEC 55x does not have. Trying to get some quotes from Avionics shops now but wonder if anyone here has done the research or installed either of these autopilots. I am assuming that being able to use the same pitch and roll servos would be a big cost savings for the STEC 55x over Garmin. I think with Garmin I would also have to install a G5. Any thoughts or experience others have would be welcome.
- Garmin GTN 650 GPS-WAAS Nav/Comm
- STEC System 30 Two Axis Auto Pilot with Altitude Hold and GPSS Steering
- Garmin Flight Stream 210 Bluetooth Wireless Gateway
- Garmin GDL 88 ADS-B UAT Transceiver System (ADSB In & Out)
- Garmin Area 796 Portable GPS Direct wired and bluetooth to GTN650 and Aircraft Power
- Garmin GTX 327 Transponder with GTN650 Remote Control
- PS Engineering PMA 450 Audio Panel
- Bendix King KY 97A COMM Radio
My understanding is that the new STEC digital 3100 autopilot is not approved for PA-28 and the STEC guy at Airventure told me they have to get a list of enough PA-28 owners interested before they proceed. So I am 63 and not going to wait 2 or 3 years for that to happen.
So options are to upgrade to STEC 55x (not digital but can use my same servos) or rip all the STEC stuff out and install a Garmin 500 digital autopilot. My current STECT 30 with Alt hold works great and has since install about 6 years ago. I want an autopilot with more approach capability like the 55x offers. However, the Garmin has an upset recovery mode and maybe some other features STEC 55x does not have. Trying to get some quotes from Avionics shops now but wonder if anyone here has done the research or installed either of these autopilots. I am assuming that being able to use the same pitch and roll servos would be a big cost savings for the STEC 55x over Garmin. I think with Garmin I would also have to install a G5. Any thoughts or experience others have would be welcome.
