Re: S-Tec 30 A/P
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:24 am
RedOwlAirfield wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 2:37 pmI really like my S30. Its the thing that convinced me autopilots aren't tools of the devil. I am now an autopilot fan. I usually use it off of the GNS430W and it works great tracking that. One thing I found from reading the book - it won't make turns of more than 10 degrees by itself. You have to make the turn - and then it picks up the heading and flies it from there. Slight heading changes it does just fine by itself though. Altitude hold seems faultless. It does work off of pressure altitude though - so if you fly from an area of low pressure to an area of high pressure - you will descend ever so slightly. Doesn't come up often, but it does come up. It's still reduces workload about a bazillion percent. (Sorry for using technical terms)
I should also mention my experience is with an S30 installed in my Cessna 180 - not a Maule. I wanted a Maule but couldn't find one when I was looking - so I had to settle. It flies pretty good but its no Maule.
I have the STec 30 in my Bonanza and it does not work like yours. Won't make a turn of more than 10 degrees? That's actually one of the things i don't like about it. If you're more than a couple dots off course the 30 will turn as far as it needs to and take a 45 degree whack at the magenta line. It will then of course overshoot and have to turn back the other way. Would prefer maybe a 20 degree intercept.