AP Control panel - RV-12 auto trim
- Thread starter dgamble
- Start date
So right now the AP panel has an integrated trim controller, but it does not currently provide auto-trim capabilities. All that said, it's a capability that is possible to add, and we'd like to. Once we get there (that's not a promise that we will), then we'll need to get together with Vans to figure out whether it can be easily retrofitted to the fleet.
I recently released a SkyView compatible 2-axis auto-trim control, available on the MakerPlane website. In my opinion, auto-trim significantly reduces pilot workload during critical phases of flight and is therefore a safety enhancement.
I fly an rv-9 and a Harmon Rocket, both of which are sensitive in pitch and have a wide speed range and constantly need trim. I have made entire flights from post-takeoff to approach using the SkyView autopilot and the Vx/MakerPlane auto-trim controller and didn't have to trim once in either pitch or roll.
It's also easy to add to existing electric trim systems and provides other cool safety features such as stuck trim switch correction and speed scheduling.
Cheers, Vern Little, Vx Aviation.
I fly an rv-9 and a Harmon Rocket, both of which are sensitive in pitch and have a wide speed range and constantly need trim. I have made entire flights from post-takeoff to approach using the SkyView autopilot and the Vx/MakerPlane auto-trim controller and didn't have to trim once in either pitch or roll.
It's also easy to add to existing electric trim systems and provides other cool safety features such as stuck trim switch correction and speed scheduling.
Cheers, Vern Little, Vx Aviation.
mmarien
Murray M.
Vern - Seen your Rocket in Completions in Kitplanes. Congratulations. Nice.
jakej
Well-Known Member
also a big thank you to Vern for the P-Tach device to stabilise the rpm output - all thought I haven't installed it yet, due customer being 5.5 hrs from here, I have complete faith in the products you produce. Hope you all are having a great time at OSH 
Jake J
Jake J
Thanks, Jake. Of course, I'm furiously trying to stay one step ahead of Dynon. How else are they going to figure out what to do unless I show them? ;-)
Murray: thanks for the note. I hope to fly to The Moose Jaw area next year. It will be my first visit since ferrying an RV-7 2 yrs ago. 6 hrs of flight, no oxygen and not much water. The beer tasted good at the end!
Vern
Murray: thanks for the note. I hope to fly to The Moose Jaw area next year. It will be my first visit since ferrying an RV-7 2 yrs ago. 6 hrs of flight, no oxygen and not much water. The beer tasted good at the end!
Vern
mmarien
Murray M.
Yeah - no doubt. Let me know when you come. MJ is just an hour away. Always happy to meet the forum members and see what they are flying.
Not always.
I have written extensively on the subject of Auto Trim - one article can be found here:
http://www.rbogash.com/Safety/autopilots.html
If Dynon offered Auto Trim, I would likely incorporate it on my airplane. I think a major benefit would be elimination of these constant Trim commands while in cruise.
In other phases of flight - I'm not so sure. I don't consider it to be "workload" to know what your airplane is doing, and telling you, which it is doing when you need to trim - especially during the descent, approach, and landing phases. I think it's critical for the pilot to be in the man/machine loop, and trimming is one of the most important mechanisms.
Submerging the trim feedback is a mechanism for removing the pilot from the feedback loop.
Also, as described in my article, establishing conservative limits to the Autopilot's Trim Authority, would be a critical requirement to prevent the gross mis-trims I write about.
Bob Bogash
RV-12
N737G
I am a big fan of the pilot closing the loop... Give the pilot the information to make the decision.
However, in my Harmon Rocket, the autopilot was almost useless because of the constant requests for trim. The point of an autopilot is to reduce workload which makes sense in a high performance aircraft at times.
The MakerPlane M-PWR-2AT auto-trim controller has made the Dynon autopilot useful, and the Rocket an excellent cross-country machine. It is one of the best flight gizmos I ever designed.
Vern
However, in my Harmon Rocket, the autopilot was almost useless because of the constant requests for trim. The point of an autopilot is to reduce workload which makes sense in a high performance aircraft at times.
The MakerPlane M-PWR-2AT auto-trim controller has made the Dynon autopilot useful, and the Rocket an excellent cross-country machine. It is one of the best flight gizmos I ever designed.
Vern