Problems wit AeroCruze 100 install (lack thereof)

I think they may have been talking to Andrew. Thanks for all the input we will keep on top of it and may be contacting you guys to get help with settings down the road not too long. Avionics shop seemed dedicated to helping us get it right when I talked to them on the phone today.
 
Can I ask you a question? Is the deviation you are seeing in GPSS during en-route or during an approach?
 
Enroute. Whenever we’ve tried an approach it swings way through the approach course and end up disconnecting pretty quick.
 
We recently fine tuned our Aerocruze 100 in our 182. We were having problems holding altitude in gpss turns. The nose would drop then recover but overshoot. It felt somewhat divergent and wasn't a pleasant ride at all.

We lowered the vertical activity to about 10, and raised the vertical microactivity to 25. It's really behaving nicely in this configuration.

Don't be afraid to tweak these settings in flight. Have someone fly the plane while you try different settings!
 
We recently fine tuned our Aerocruze 100 in our 182. We were having problems holding altitude in gpss turns. The nose would drop then recover but overshoot. It felt somewhat divergent and wasn't a pleasant ride at all.

We lowered the vertical activity to about 10, and raised the vertical microactivity to 25. It's really behaving nicely in this configuration.

Don't be afraid to tweak these settings in flight. Have someone fly the plane while you try different settings!
I have the revised settings for the 182 and they’re pretty close to perfect. I’ll send them to you tomorrow
 
I have the revised settings for the 182 and they’re pretty close to perfect. I’ll send them to you tomorrow

send them to me too please! I would like to compare what your using to what I ended up with.
 
Yes…but EVERY owner mentions this and it’s no big deal. There is a tension transducer on the pitch servo that is overly sensitive. Just adjust the trim until it goes out, if you can bump the yoke a little up or down to put out the annunciation then just ignore it.

It’s fine.

That sort of behavior on a brand new autopilot is not at all what I would call "fine".
 
That sort of behavior on a brand new autopilot is not at all what I would call "fine".

I am a Trutrak early adopter and I whole heartedly agree. This is not “fine” behavior. It’s annoying because you have no idea of how much trim is going to be needed when you disengage if you simply just ignore the trim warnings.
It sucks especially after paying the money to buy and install it only to have it constant complain about trim. Then disengage, and BAM hard nose down.
 
The Trutrak (AC 100) is designed that way. Any pressure one way of the other and it will tell you to trim after about 8 seconds. Don’t ignore the trim, but don’t chase it either. When I fly, if it says to trim down, I periodically will see how much pressure it takes for the annunciation to go away. Often it is just the slop in the controls, in which case I leave it alone. If it takes a little pressure to go away, hen I trim a little bit and bump the yoke again. In cruise, this is every half an hour or so. In climb or descent, I do it more often. You don’t have to trim any more than you normally would. You can know exactly how much trim it will require when you disengage when you do this, which should be none. If you run the trim until the annunciation goes away, you will almost always have gone way too far. Do I like this design, maybe not, but does it keep me in better trim than another system that only annunciator over a certain pressure, probably so. It is not a problem with the auto pilot. It is a feature.
 
Any AP without electric trim authority will have this issue. It's not nearly as bad as some are assuming based on the comments. We're talking about the occasional little adjustment here. I've never been so out of trim that disconnecting caused any unreasonable pitch change. This is in my 182, so a fairly rock stable platform but with more than a little slop in the control system.
 
Thank you, would love to compare them to where we wound up!

send them to me too please! I would like to compare what your using to what I ended up with.
Document the settings you are currently using, then replace with the “182RG” (yes, even on the fixed gear model) settings. They’re spot on for me.
CF1258C0-D3AC-4B0D-A36D-8AA0056186D6.jpeg
 
There will be different settings for each specific plane in many cases. Cable tensions, pulley bearings, weight and balance, etc can cause the plane to fly slightly different from one to another.
 
Document the settings you are currently using, then replace with the “182RG” (yes, even on the fixed gear model) settings. They’re spot on for me.
View attachment 99030

I hope someone with a PA28 will do one of these charts before I order mine. I've got an engine monitor and an exhaust to install first, so you guys have time. ;)
 
Just start with the standard PA28 settings. Those usually work great to start with except the lateral activity usually needs to bump up to 20 or 21. Med or Low bank angle is strictly a preference issue. There is a huge range of PA-28's. Saying PA-28 is like saying Cessna 100 series. From the 140 to the 236, there will be substantial differences in the way they handle. Just start standard, find out hot to get into Setup Enable mode, then fly in some smooth air and tweak until you are happy. Climbs, descents, right turns, left turns and GPSS and you'll get it dialed in pretty well.
 
I've installed in at least 20-30 PA-28's, and what I mentioned above pretty much covers it.
 
Cherokee 140. Most people would laugh and say it was putting a five dollar shine on a two dollar shoe but I don't care.
Not at all. If you fly it enough to benefit from an auto pilot, then it absolutely makes sense. I would just start with stock settings and expect a little increase in the lateral activity.
 
The Trutrak (AC 100) is designed that way. Any pressure one way of the other and it will tell you to trim after about 8 seconds. Don’t ignore the trim, but don’t chase it either. When I fly, if it says to trim down, I periodically will see how much pressure it takes for the annunciation to go away. Often it is just the slop in the controls, in which case I leave it alone. If it takes a little pressure to go away, hen I trim a little bit and bump the yoke again. In cruise, this is every half an hour or so. In climb or descent, I do it more often. You don’t have to trim any more than you normally would. You can know exactly how much trim it will require when you disengage when you do this, which should be none. If you run the trim until the annunciation goes away, you will almost always have gone way too far. Do I like this design, maybe not, but does it keep me in better trim than another system that only annunciator over a certain pressure, probably so. It is not a problem with the auto pilot. It is a feature.

This is helpful, thanks. I have definitely disconnected the AP more than a time or two and had the yoke yank forward/back because it was holding a decent bit of tension.

We recently found out that the Trutrak had static run to both the pitot and static inputs, unfortunately, there was no change in lateral function. Need to make time to adjust the settings.
 
Most people would laugh and say it was putting a five dollar shine on a two dollar shoe but I don't care.

Doing that should make you feel young like the kids in the neighborhood that are putting five grand stereos in their fifteen hundred dollar beater trucks ...

It's your plane, your money, and your business! I bought a Trio EZ auto pilot for my little experimental. When folks asks why I tell em, "because I can."
 
Aerocruze autopilot


I now have the BKAC 100 installed and operational in my 1974 Piper Archer. My takeaways from the experience are:

Make sure you order the form factor that is actually in stock. When I ordered a 3 1/8 unit they didn't explain that the form factors available were 2 1/4 and the flat pack. Once I changed the order to 2 1/4 it showed up in less than 2 weeks.

The 2 1/4 has the same interface size as the 3 1/8, it just has a smaller surrounding bezel.

Make sure you have the right stripping and crimping tools for the wire and miniature connectors provided. The wires are 20 guage and smaller with Teflon insulation. You'll need special crimpers and strippers to handle this kind of wire. The Teflon is extremely tough.

One of the two servos didn't produce enough torque to properly move the controls. It produced around 30 inch-pounds when it should have produced 60 in-lbs. I sent it to Mid Continent in Wichita for adjustment.

The control head and link sensor were later sent to MC because the pitch servo wouldn't move the controls. There was an inop main board in the control head that had to be replaced.

There was a continuous Trim Down message on the control head. This was probably my fault because of mistakenly using thread lock on the link sensor so it couldn't react properly to the servo push force.

If you don't link the AP to at least a simple GPS (G496 etc) you will only be able to set bank angle and altitude, not heading or track.

Now that the AP is working, it seems to be a capable unit. But the initial issues were problematic. Since I was doing the install under the supervision of an IA, I was able to keep flying the airplane while getting components fixed.

The repair work was done under warranty by MC.
 
Thanks to all that made comments, I am considering purchasing one of these Aerocruz 100 autopilots, but it seems that it is nothing but a tedious very high priced piece of gear , that may or may not work properly. I have one quote for $14k installed, If i were to spend this amount of money , I would expect it to work properly right out of the box.
 
$14k is way too much. The equipment costs around $5,000 or a little more. We charge $9,000 with installation. There is a decent lead time on equipment right now, mainly on the 12V 60in-lb servo. I have 16 of them on order. Hopefully I’ll start getting them soon.
 
Thanks for your input; The price is definitely too high for me to justify. I would go to your shop there in Florida, unfortunately, I live in the Northeast.
 
Thanks for your input; The price is definitely too high for me to justify. I would go to your shop there in Florida, unfortunately, I live in the Northeast.
I have about $5500 in mine with everything. 3 day install in my 182… PA28 is easier, from what I’ve heard, so it shouldn’t be anywhere remotely near that $14k number. Sounds like an “I don’t want to do it” price.
 
Getting one installed in a C182 for $8200 in Ohio. Connected to an Aspen E5 and 530w.
 
Curious if anyone has recent experience on lead times for BKAC for a PA28. Order has been in since December, head unit and install kit has been in hand for quite some time. Can’t get any information on motors/servos. Getting restless.
 
No lead time known. B/k purchase of TT has all but killed the product. They will come, but don’t hold your breath. I have 10 servos on order with no ship date in sight.
 
No lead time known. B/k purchase of TT has all but killed the product. They will come, but don’t hold your breath. I have 10 servos on order with no ship date in sight.

When was the last servos order received and placed? curious if a timeline could be established. BK/Boeing are worthless for this product line.

Last line I heard was the servos were at Boeing ready for shipment, but there was a problem with ‘paperwork’. That was 2 months ago…
 
Don’t believe anything you hear. They don’t care about this product line. Makes me wonder what get bought it, but what do I know. I wouldn’t take historical lead times as a measure if future performance.
 
Don’t believe anything you hear. They don’t care about this product line.

From my experience, BK (Honeywell) does not care one whit about GA any more. I can't get their stuff out of my panel fast enough. After being quoted $9600 for an overhaul exchange on a trim servo, the autopilot is on my "no spend" list - As in, if a single thing goes wrong with it, no matter how cheap it would be to fix, it's getting yanked. While the KFC150 was a great autopilot in its day, with the current lack of support and the far-superior (and far cheaper!) GFC500 available, this is pretty much a no brainer.
 
If Dynon ever gets their crap and together for the PA 32 the aerocruze will be coming out and some servos will be available.
 
It seems like Dynon has given up no getting their AP's approved for certificated aircraft.
 
Not sure if this is helpful or not as I took this from the TruTrak Vizion installation manual that I received in 2019 (image below). Just wondering... all the settings on the TruTrak are confirmed? Baud rate set at 9600?


View attachment 88292
Hey RTK, I have a Garmin 430W and I have it connected to a TruTrak 100, and 2 AV-30C's. When I go to CHNL1, my TruTrak works, but my AV30C's do not receive a signal. Then when I use CHNL2 with Aviation, NO ALT, my AV30C's work, but my TruTrak 100 does not receive a signal. I've tried multiple hookups, but no luck. Do you have any idea what I'm missing? The baud rates are 9600 on all instruments, and the correct pins are being used from the 430W. It appears that I need to splice the wiring together from the 430W and connect from the same CHNL. My friend has a Garmin 650 and his works just fine.
 
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