REFLECTOR:Trio Auto Pilot

Wed, 12 Nov 2003 10:33:25 -0700

I'm forwarding this info,

 From Sam a RV Beta tester:

Recently I was able to test a new version of Trio's single roll axis 
autopilot. <file://www.trioavionics.com>www.trioavionics.com . I have been 
running the Navaid for 1000hrs and was pretty happy with it. It WAS the 
only game in town so I really did not have any comparisons. Here are some 
things that have always annoyed me about the Navaid unit.

1. I had have the gyro rebuilt

2. When you engaged the unit you had better hold on. There is no telling 
what it might do. IT could roll into a 60 degree bank and scare the bejesus 
out of you and your passenger before it gets stable and presses on.

3. It was stable in turbulence, but not real stable.

4. Tracking was always off one way or another. Not by a lot, but always 
off. More annoying than anything.

5. When I keyed up the mic, again you had better hold on. It could roll you 
upside down.

6. When intercepting a course, it would overshoot, undershoot, overshoot, 
undershoot until it got on course. IT would never nail it. If you had an 
approach loaded, it would shoot you right through the FAF and there was no 
hope of making the runway unless you got on the final approach course miles 
before the FAF.

7. Every conversation with Navaid for the past 3 years about improving 
their unit resulted in me ending the conversation with a feeling that these 
guys will not be in business much longer.

So when I heard about this unit from Trio I contacted them immediately and 
asked how I could get a hold of one. Jerry Hansen answered and we hit it 
off right from the start. They were nearing readiness for a beta test of 
their new 2 gyro unit and were looking for flyers. I had to pay for the 
unit, but that was fine with me. I entered the beta program and received 
the unit in the mail. Out of the box impressions were this:

1. It is small. It weighs less than 8oz(yes 8!) 2. The direct plug into my 
existing Navaid servo really was the right plug!

3. It's small. Less than 3" deep.

After a recent complete panel overhaul (ripped out vacuum, installed 2nd EI 
and ripped that ole last mag out, installed Dynon, Garmin 430, and some 
other nifty items) I was ready for this new solid state gyro technology. No 
gyros to replace, no tumbling the unit, no electric whine to listen to. 
Just quiet reliable computer chips to crank away at the data to fly me 
along. As a young guy, it just seems to make sense to me.

Electronic failures are almost unheard of with this type of equipment. I 
have rebuilt my horizon 3 times, DG twice, and Navaid once in 1000 hours. I 
mean come on! This electronic solid state gyro stuff is the future, and the 
future is now.  Here are some of the cool features this unit has:

1. A display has data on it. At first I did not see this as any real 
benefit until I flew it. My 430 moving map, and I am sure yours too, 
displays important data fields that you use and need constantly. Ground 
speed, track, distance to waypoint etc are all important. What is also 
important is the moving map real estate space. Those fields take up 
valuable real estate on the moving map. This trio displays those fields, 
and cycles through others freeing up the moving map to use up all the 
screen. This is extremely valuable. In fact, in my report to trio, I 
recommended then add more display lines for more data to display.

2. Intercept mode. You can read the web site for what it does. Ill just say 
it works just as advertised and is extremely accurate. Even if the 
direction you need to go is behind you, it makes a real nice teardrop 
course reversal and nails the course line. Obviously this thing is smart 
and doing some pretty good math to handle that maneuver. Navaid would not 
even drop me in the same county if tried that.

3. Adjustable course track. Dial in .97 deg. heading, and that's what you 
will fly. In either the TRK or CRS mode, if the remote servo disconnect 
switch is activated, you can fly to any new course desired and, upon 
releasing the switch, the autopilot will enter the CRS mode and track the 
new course over the ground. SO the next time you are told turn 10 degrees 
left, you can either dial in 10 degrees left, or release the servo, turn 
manually 10 left, and reengage the servo.

4. Excellent turbulence performance. It reacts so quickly, a noticeable 
improvement over the Navaid.

5. Plugs in quickly to an existing Navaid servo. I am not kidding you when 
I tell you that installation took less than 3 minutes. 4 screws and the 
navaid dropped right out of the panel, and 4 screws and the Trio was in and 
running. I already had a remote servo disconnect I used for the Navaid. I 
moved 2 moles pins to take advantage of this feature in Trios box and that 
was it. In minutes I was playing with running.

6. It accepts an "Aviation" data stream, as well as the NMEA format. But 
the aviation data stream has much more info contained in it. Like waypoint 
name etc. All can now be displayed on-screen, freeing up the moving map 
space. This is great.

7. Communication and service has been very good. They have already 
implemented mine, and others recommendations. Some features now available 
that I have not tried are: (taken from their website)

Selectable Track Offset Position (TOP)

While flight testing the autopilot and flying flight plans using published 
airways, we often encountered other airplanes using the same airway.  While 
this was usually during climb or descent (for either us or the opposing 
aircraft) it was a potential safety issue.  As more aircraft are using 
precision GPS receivers to navigate, and many are coupled to autopilots, 
such close encounters are likely to increase.

For this reason, the EZ Pilot incorporates a Track Offset Position (TOP) 
feature that allows the pilot to select a track offset of up to 1 mile.

This places the aircraft away from the course centerline where much of the 
traffic might be found.  It is interesting to note, that if all aircraft 
positioned themselves to the right of the published course centerline (for 
instance), opposing traffic would always be on the opposite side of the 
centerline.  Top 
<<http://www.trioavionics.com/Features.htm#Top>http://www.trioavionics.com/Features.htm#Top>

Speed Controlled Bank Angle

A "standard rate turn" of 3 degrees per second may result in a comfortable 
bank angle at 130 knots, but as speed increases the bank angle must be 
increased to achieve the standard rate of turn.  In faster aircraft this 
steeper bank may be uncomfortable to some pilots and, indeed, may exceed 
the capability of an altitude hold system to maintain altitude properly in 
the turn.  To remedy this, the EZ Pilot has a means whereby the users can 
adjust the maximum rate of turn to their personal

satisfaction.   When shipped, the EZ Pilot is defaulted to an

"automatic" mode where the actual turn rate is automatically adjusted based 
on groundspeed (as measured by your GPS).  For aircraft cruising at 
groundspeeds of 140 knots or greater the automatic mode will decrease the 
allowable turn rate to keep the aircraft bank angle at a comfortable 
maximum of approximately 15 degrees.  Slower speeds will allow a standard 
rate turn of 3 degrees per second.  Top 
<<http://www.trioavionics.com/Features.htm#Top>http://www.trioavionics.com/Features.htm#Top>

Adjustable Bank Angle Limit

If your cruise groundspeed is typically less than 150 knots, or if you do 
not mind the higher bank angles at the higher groundspeeds, you may want to 
select the MANUAL mode.  In the MANUAL mode you can set the maximum turn 
rate to a fixed limit.  It is adjustable from 1 degree/sec to as high as 3 
degree/sec, in increments of 1/10th degree/sec.

Emergency Course Reversal

In an effort to increase safety and save lives, this mode may be 
implemented as an emergency aid to the VFR pilot who inadvertently enters 
IMC conditions and needs to execute an immediate course reversal.

It is important to realize that the autopilot must be turned on and 
receiving a good GPS data signal for proper operation.  You may be tracking 
a flight plan but a sudden IMC encounter may not leave you with an 
opportunity to reprogram your GPS to invert the flight plan.  This 
procedure does not require you to adjust your GPS receiver.  If you are 
manually flying your aircraft, this procedure will also work because the 
servo does not have to be engaged to initiate this emergency procedure.

  The procedure is simple and straightforward.  Press and hold the MODE

button for three seconds.  That's all you need to do!   After three

seconds the following will occur:

     1         The servo will be energized (if off) and the wing leveler

function will engage.

     2         The upper right display line will read "TRN 180"

     3         The lower right display line will be forced to the turn

coordinator display

     4.   A 175 degree right course reversal will be executed

(Back to Mike Stewart's comments) All in all this is a tremendous value.

I'll be sending my unit in soon for the recent changes. There is one 
notable item that is absolutely terrible, and that is the screen goes 
completely blank in direct sunlight. I mean you can not read one item. A 
quick hand over the unit and all is fine, but they will no doubt need to 
address this soon. From Jerry here is what is in the works:

In the works:

Turbulence penetration enhancement incorporating a full roll coupled gyro - 
Expected  late 1st quarter 2004

LCD display option - Expected 1st quarter 2004

Altitude hold system +/- 20 feet vertical tracking - Expected 3rd quarter 2004

(back to Mike Stewart's comments) Sam Buchanan and I are both real happy 
with this thing and its performance. Sam has already spoken to his interest 
in this unit in message number #116018. Electric spinning gyro's are 
history and this company has a roll axis autopilot at a price point that 
will put all others to shame. (Navaid are you listening? I tried to tell 
you over the past 3 years you needed to look at this stuff, and here it 
is!) I can't wait to see the new display and integrated vertical guidance. 
One thing I don't have and wish I did was altitude pre-select at a 
reasonable price. Altrak watch out, these guys are knocking on your door. 
If I were your mother, and you are flying your rv in anything other than 
severe clear local flights, I would make you put one of these things in 
your plane. Not only will it take some workload off, but it might save your 
A#@! one day.

Mike Stewart

6A 1100 hours

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Just a footnote to Mike's report on the EZ-Pilot; I have the latest 
software version in my EZ-Pilot and the newest additions to the feature set 
gives this puppy some tricks that are not available in any other wing 
leveler, and probably not any other autopilot regardless of complexity.

As Mike stated, this autopilot really, really works nicely. Even though I 
have supported and used the Navaid for over four years and 500 hrs, (the 
Navaid was functioning properly when I retired it) the EZ-Pilot's 
capabilities are far beyond what the Navaid can offer. And the fact that 
the Navaid servo already buried in the wing of my RV-6 works perfectly with 
the EX-Pilot made this upgrade a no-brainer.

I am really impressed with the responsiveness of Jerry, Chuck and the rest 
of the Trio group in how they were receptive to the observations made 
during the beta test phase of their system. The latest production version 
of the software addresses all the minor issues found in testing, and adds 
some cool stuff we hadn't even thought about! One really neat feature is 
the "automatic 180"; even if the system is not engaged, as long as it is 
receiving GPS data you can push one button and the plane will instantly 
initiate a course reversal and lock on to the reciprocal course in wing 
leveler mode. Might be just the ticket in case you lapse into a brain fade 
and manage to stick the nose of the plane into something you don't like.

Since the system is digital, it offers great flexibility in the way you can 
program it for your needs. The way the unit intercepts courses and rolls 
into turns can be customized to your taste and aircraft. We just had 
another EZ-Pilot installed in one of the RVs at DCU and when I checked on 
the pilot yesterday, he was all grins after returning from a cross country 
lunch flight. This is a very capable system backed up by a company that 
appears to be committed to the long haul and I think we are going to see a 
bunch of EZ-Pilots in RVs in the months to come.

Sam Buchanan

new panel with EZ-Pilot;  <http://thervjournal.com/>http://thervjournal.com
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