GFC 500 question

[David Kagey]

Autopilot question. For my use the 550 is a stretch and I wasn’t planning on adding the auto trim. I have dual G5’s and GTN750. My question was, how do you handle the manual trim? Someone posted that the G5 annunciation does it. Didn’t understand how this works or what it looks like. I had been looking at either the Trio or the BK AeroCruze and both have an indicator where you trim up or down until the indicator goes away. Thanks for the help

 

[texasclouds]

Spend the extra $$$ and get auto trim!

If you mess up on the manual trim bigly, then you may find yourself with a severely out of trim aircraft when disconnecting the AP. Scary. I seen it.

 

[Jim K]

The g5 will say "trim up/down". I've seen it once or twice when when the electric trim doesn't quite keep up. Just displays the message on the ai screen. I don't know how close it needs to be. I guess I should pull the trim breaker some time to see what it's like.

That said, skipping the electric trim on a GFC500 installation would be penny wise and pound foolish. It would save what...10% of the cost on a 20k+ install? You'll definitely get that back at resale time.

If you skip it, the next owner will call you a cheap bastard when he's paying to get it added

 

[David Kagey]

The g5 will say "trim up/down". I've seen it once or twice when when the electric trim doesn't quite keep up. Just displays the message on the ai screen. I don't know how close it needs to be. I guess I should pull the trim breaker some time to see what it's like.

That said, skipping the electric trim on a GFC500 installation would be penny wise and pound foolish. It would save what...10% of the cost on a 20k+ install? You'll definitely get that back at resale time.

If you skip it, the next owner will call you a cheap bastard when he paying to get it added

It was $5k to add the trim. Had been looking at AeroCruze and Trio. Price was a reasonable differemce until I added trim..then it moved much higher

 

[David Kagey]

The g5 will say "trim up/down". I've seen it once or twice when when the electric trim doesn't quite keep up. Just displays the message on the ai screen. I don't know how close it needs to be. I guess I should pull the trim breaker some time to see what it's like.

That said, skipping the electric trim on a GFC500 installation would be penny wise and pound foolish. It would save what...10% of the cost on a 20k+ install? You'll definitely get that back at resale time.

If you skip it, the next owner will call you a cheap bastard when he paying to get it added

I need to dig more. Been watching videos and reading and can’t find where the G5 “says” pitch up or down. Assume you mean on the screen,but can’t find a reference to it.

 

[Jim K]

I'm surprised it's that much, but I guess the servo is like 2500 and the old 2x rule applies.

I'll say this...if you didn't already have the garmin panel, I'd go with another a/p, but the gfc is so awesome with the g5s and gtn that it's easily worth the money in my opinion. The mode controller is awesome, and the way it integrates with the g5s is way more useful than I imagined. ESP is great for peace of mind. I think the other options have some limitations on approaches, but it's been a while since I've looked. Personally I'd still bite the bullet and do the 3 axis gfc, but it's your money not mine.

I need to dig more. Been watching videos and reading and can’t find where the G5 “says” pitch up or down. Assume you mean on the screen,but can’t find a reference to it.

It's a little confusing as all the gfc500 info is actually in the g5 manual because it's the brains of the system. Here's what it looks like:


In the photo, his electric trim has failed. I'm 95% certain the messages are the same if you are using manual trim.

 

[455 Bravo Uniform]

If you plan on flying a few approaches in IMC near minimums, single pilot, I would think the auto-trim would be worth it. One less thing to manage. If you’re putting family in the plane, another value consideration. My 2 cents.

 

[Low Level Flyer]

Certainly get the pitch trim if you want it and can afford it. I was spending quite a bit on a complete avionics/panel upgrade, but elected not to get the pitch trim servo to save a few thousand dollars and to avoid potential repair or replacement down the road. Some may say penny wise and pound foolish, but I haven't missed it. I've now had a GFC500 with dual G5s since Feb 2020. Piper Arrow. About 520 hours in that time. Use my plane for traveling and fly almost exclusively IFR.

Typical flight-takeoff, once in climb above 800'AGL (minimum for GFC500 use except for approaches) I engage the autopilot in IAS mode. No need for pitch trim since it's already manually trimmed. If I'm climbing high enough that I need to lose airspeed to keep a decent rate of climb, I do so in 5 knot increments and know how much manual trim it takes to slow 5 knots in a climb. As the autopilot levels off, I manually trim for cruise. I do have electric trim but prefer manual. I am familiar with my airplane and know how far to adjust the trim for this attitude change. Having said that, I usually then disengage the autopilot momentarily after entering cruise to see if the pitch servo is holding any small force to keep my pitch attitude and make any small trim adjustments. If I don't trim it when leveling in cruise, the G5 PFD annunciates to either trim up or down. Enroute I basically don't need to trim at all unless encountering decent turbulence at which time it annunciates any necessary pitch trim adjustments. If this happens, I use my electric trim. Power reduction for descent and approach require very little trim adjustments, but again I do so manually and know about how much is necessary. If at anytime during the flight I suspect the pitch servo is applying force for an out of trim condition, I disengage the autopilot, manually trim, and reengage it. Takes a couple seconds.

It took more effort to type that than I spend trimming my aircraft in a typical flight. I'm sure I'd appreciate the pitch trim servo, but honestly haven't missed it at all.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I need to dig more. Been watching videos and reading and can’t find where the G5 “says” pitch up or down. Assume you mean on the screen,but can’t find a reference to it.

Already answered with reference to the manual, but I have so far not seen an AP installation (of any AP) without automatic trim which did not have a pitch up/down annunciation. That would be nasty.

 

[Gary Ward]

When I was quoted for my GFC500 electric trim was standard and they mentioned something like they don't put em in without electric trim at least on my 172.
I love my electric trim and I agree with everyone you would be foolish to spend the money for a GFC500 and not have electric trim.
They adapted this Stec plate to my plain 172 yoke, the trim switch is in a comfortable spot for my thumb I think I use for trim.