I'm looking at a nice 320 to buy
for about $60k but it has no auto pilot. If anybody here can give an idea
as to the amount of work I could expect to install a 2-axis A/P (pitch &
roll) it would be greatly appreciated? Recommendations for type would
also be appreciated as well as any cost estimates.
Dan,
I consider the autopilot an essential part of my airplane. Flew
from Manassas to FL and back a couple of weeks ago without the autopilot…it was
a good reminder of the workload involved in flying one of these slippery
airplanes IFR for long periods! Good decision to install one…even if you only
use it to reduce workload during VFR flying.
I don’t know about the installation work involved; several other
300-series owners could advise on this, but I suspect the work would be about
the same for any autopilot you chose. You’ll need to mount and attach pitch and
roll servos to your flight controls, mount the control head on the instrument
panel and run power and control wiring for these units.
I can recommend TruTrak autopilots—especially if you have any
digital EFIS systems in your airplane, or intend to install these in the
future. Several models/capabilities to chose from. I have a Digiflight II VSGV in
my IV-P. This model is specifically designed to integrate with an EFIS; may not
be suitable for your airplane, but it works flawlessly, and I love it! I
considered but did not install the yaw axis part, giving me pitch and roll
control only. The autopilot, when coupled to my EFIS, will (I think) fly the
airplane literally onto the end of a runway. I say “think” only because I’ve
always “paddled it off” on short final—the autpoilot won’t flare at all… Still,
the TruTrak’s ability to control the aircraft in both pitch and roll during initial
approach set up and then descent phase of a GPS approach is impressive.
These
units take some time to set up/configure/tune for optimum control of each type
of airplane, but there is enough experience with these in the Lancair community
to make this relatively painless.
Good Luck!
Bob