Canuck
David Megginson
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 7,085
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Over on the Pilots of America list, Doug Tellef from Genesys posted about upgrade pricing for legacy S-TEC autopilots to the S-TEC 3100. The price is $12,500 if you have a legacy S-TEC single-axis A/P, $10,500 if you have a legacy two-axis A/P, or $10,000 if you have the S-TEC 55X. There's an extra $1,500 if you don't already have electric trim installed (the 3100 requires it).
The S-TEC 3100 without the upgrade pricing is $20,000 for the base unit (which includes electric trim), or $25,000 with yaw damper. Compare to the GFC 500, which is $7,000 for the base unit (plus $3,000 if you don't have a G5), plus $2,000 for optional electric trim, and plus $3,000 for optional yaw damper. So even if you need to buy the G5, a fully kitted-out GFC 500 with electric trim and yaw damper would be $15,000, vs $25,000 for the same configuration in the S-TEC 3100; without yaw damper, it's $12,000 vs $20,000.
The upgrade pricing helps, but you still end up paying more than you would just buying a GFC 500 (and can't sell your old servos with your old A/P). S-TEC is going to have to knock $8-10,000 off their pricing to be competitive.
The S-TEC 3100 without the upgrade pricing is $20,000 for the base unit (which includes electric trim), or $25,000 with yaw damper. Compare to the GFC 500, which is $7,000 for the base unit (plus $3,000 if you don't have a G5), plus $2,000 for optional electric trim, and plus $3,000 for optional yaw damper. So even if you need to buy the G5, a fully kitted-out GFC 500 with electric trim and yaw damper would be $15,000, vs $25,000 for the same configuration in the S-TEC 3100; without yaw damper, it's $12,000 vs $20,000.
The upgrade pricing helps, but you still end up paying more than you would just buying a GFC 500 (and can't sell your old servos with your old A/P). S-TEC is going to have to knock $8-10,000 off their pricing to be competitive.
