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Trio Avionics / Trutrak autopilot - possible FAA STC (but no EASA STC) & no ILS no HDG no pitch trim

Thanks for the info, Achim. Then it suddenly makes a C172/182 with a SID due and no autopilot look like an opportunity, does it not?

tmo
EPKP - Kraków, Poland

The SIDs are no longer due in EASA land, not even in Germany

I believe our (Polish) CAA requires some form of SID for Cessnas, at least those used in ab-initio training and in A-A AOC operations (sightseeing). I’m actually in the process of trying to get actual references to written statements for that, the info comes as word of mouth from the folks maintaining our club planes. Might not be the whole thing with eddy current and ultrasonic NDT, but an in-depth inspection nevertheless. And yes, going to / staying on D-reg would probably work around that requirement…

tmo
EPKP - Kraków, Poland

I have a friend with an older PA28 Challenger and he would be interested in this Autopilot, does anybody know if it will take GPSS inputs from (e.g.) a GNS430? In the wiring diagram it refers to a G3X connection, in the documentation it refers to an ARINC 429 input from a WAAS enabled GPS receiver, which the original GNS 430 isn’t….

EDL*, Germany

As it states specifically to be for the Cherokee, I guess it is not applicable to an Archer?

As for the paperwork exercise, this has unfortunately still to be initiated by the ATC holder. As an aircraft owner interested in an STC you can’t get it EASA approved without the cooperation of the STC holder.

The STC seems to list both the PA-28-180 and -181 as eligible types, so perhaps that would be the place to start looking, not a press relase.

Last Edited by tmo at 01 Nov 10:07
tmo
EPKP - Kraków, Poland

Indeed; the STC covers pretty much the whole PA28 series, including Arrow, Turbo Arrow and Dakota.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

In the meantime, Trio have a comprehensive list of supported airframes:
Cessna 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, Piper PA28, and PA32
And they are further working on Piper Comanche single and twin engine models, Cessna 195, and Grumman AA5.

Total cost is USD5K for the servos+AP hear and USD3K for installation brackets and STC. For about USD10K installed, you get a dual axis autopilot!

So the trend is clearly going in the right direction to use autopilots coming from the experimental world and can only accelerate as different actors are already in the market: trio, trutrak, dynon and garmin.

Last Edited by ploucandco at 09 Nov 10:25
Belgium

More claimed approvals

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

More claimed approvals

How do these approvals translate to EASA-land? The STCs are not directly acceptable anyway but the data used to get them should be usable towards an EASA STC. OTOH the route used to get these non TSO products STCd is a different route anyway so I wonder if the data is even acceptable. I wonder if @wigglyamp knows?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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