>So I guess each pilot has to evaluate their own abilities/needs.
>I know it is easy for us to get to reliant on a lot of gadgets to where
>we get rusty with the basics, but my vote is that an RV has more of a
>need for an Auto pilot for IFR than a lot of other airplanes that they
>are typically used in
Years ago, Mooney (the hot-rod of the period) had a standard
offering in their airplanes called "PC" or "positive control".
It was nothing more than a pneumatic wing leveler (Brittian
as I recall) that tied the turn coordinator to the ailerons
via very simple, "juice can" actuators. The whole thing ran
off of vacuum pump (except turn coordinator which was electric).
This system was always on. It could be momentarily diabled by
punching a button on the wheel but if one chose to simply
override it and put the airplane back on course, there were
no smoking motors, squealing clutches or sweating pilots.
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for those actuators.
While bulky, they were light. They had only two moving parts.
With modern materials, they could be built to expect extremely
long service life . . . probably never touched over lifetime
of an airplane. If the volumes were high enough, there's no
reason a modern incarnation of that system should sell for
more than 5-600 dollars.
IMHO the basic wing-leveler is as important as your VOR/ILS
system in any suite of IFR equipment.
Bob . . .
AeroElectric Connection
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(o o)
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