Today I finished the installation of the auto
pilot control module. I drilled and
countersunk the holes for the nutplates then cut out the panel with my Dremmel
tool. I had to file the opening slightly
to get the module to fit in the opening.
I installed the nutplates using some flush pulled rivets.
I installed the module and powered up the
system. I had to have SkyView find and
then configure the SV-KNOB-PANEL. After
the set up was complete I turned on the SkyView system and it was there. I was able to set the altitude and heading
bugs as well as adjust the Barro. I
closed the hangar doors and checked to make sure the backlighting is
working. It is and now the unit is ready
to go flying.
After installing the new placards I decided
to try out the panel. I got the airplane
out and did a pre-flight. I got in,
started the engine and went up for a quick flight. I did a couple of touch-and-goes then headed
south to Herriman. I flew over Herriman
then headed north. The wind at the time
was reported 150o at 18kts with gusts to 22kts so it was a little
bumpy flying over the foothills west of the airport. I flew up to Magna then noticed a big dust
cloud east of Antelope Island. I decided
to head back to U42 in case it was heading south. While flying over Harriman and then north to
Magna I turned on the autopilot. All of
the functions work perfectly. It is nice
to be able to adjust the barometer, altitude and track/heading without
selecting these functions first on the SkyView menu.
All in all this is a really nice feature and
I am glad I installed the panel.
