Trutrak DigiFlight IIvs problems

[CT4ME]

After 275 hours of flying without it, I think it's about time to fix my autopilot! It's never worked... originally installed by Gary Anas, then supposedly finished/fixed by a local avionics person Glendale (KGEU). But when it's activated, the stick goes forward, and it's autopilot dive time!

 

What's been your guys experiences on getting work done on autopilots in general, and maybe this one in particular! Just finding someone who is familiar with Light Sport autopilots seems to be a job in itself.

 

Tim

[Patrnflyr]

Mine never worked well either from day one. I now have 100hrs on it. Went to annual in Tulsa (the dealer) and he flew it over to Tru Trak's HQ which is nearby and they fixed it. It's now locked in with no further problems. Besides its poor holding ability, the screen had the common pixelation problems also. They worked over the entire AP and also replaced my screen for the new bright blue screen. I've been flying now for about 8 hrs with no problems since. Almost as good as my Bendix/King KAP-140 with the altitude capture.

 

John

[Runtoeat]

Bought my 2006 CTSW used and it has TruTrak II. This system has worked well for me. It flies my plane better than I do in rough weather. I have the old screen with yellow text and this is hard to read in full sunlight. I'm going to see if I can get the new blue screen readout.

Dick

[airhound]

Call Lucas at TruTrak and he talk you through settings on the ground.

[CT4ME]

'not sure if it was Lucas, but about a year ago, I talked to someone there... who spent a lot of time with me explaining the settings. Unfortunately, I wasn't at the hangar, so he gave me a whole bunch of troubleshooting ideas. So far, their reputation for excellent customer service has been true.

 

 

All this talk prompted me to call around the city, again today, looking for TruTrak knowledgeable people... I may have found one! Not at the dealer that TruTrak listed on their website, but those people gave me the name of a local avionics "guy" they use. He's installed or fixed several.... I'll let you know how it works out.

 

Tim

[N89WD]

Hey Guys, After 420+ hours on 89WD my Trutrac Digiflight II acted up once. Trutrac has an upgraded sheer pin. Be sure to replace the pins on both servos. My pitch servo had sheered this pin, once replaced it works perfect. I enjoy the way it flys the GPS approaches from the 496!

 

Mike

[Runtoeat]

Call Lucas at TruTrak and he talk you through settings on the ground.

 

Ranger6, I called TruTrak and talked to Lucas. I had previously set the backlight and brightness but Lucas gave me some info to try out. He said to call him back if it doesn't work out. I'm impressed with his helpfulness. My TruTrak has performed well and it appears that the company offers good support to it's customers.

 

Dick

[airhound]

Ranger6, I called TruTrak and talked to Lucas. I had previously set the backlight and brightness but Lucas gave me some info to try out. He said to call him back if it doesn't work out. I'm impressed with his helpfulness. My TruTrak has performed well and it appears that the company offers good support to it's customers.

 

Dick

Happy to hear that Dick. They seem very customer oriented. I wonder how much hand flying the two swiss pilot did on their around the world trip? I'm guessing TruTrak also had a hand in it.

[Runtoeat]

Happy to hear that Dick. They seem very customer oriented. I wonder how much hand flying the two swiss pilot did on their around the world trip? I'm guessing TruTrak also had a hand in it.

 

The A/P is so tempting to use. Just push the little white button and sit back and enjoy the ride. I try not to use it too much but it is good to know that it's there. I would imagine that the Swiss used it quite often and enjoyed the view.

 

Dick

[rookie]

After I found the problem with the roll servo mine has worked well. Actually I like it better than the Stec. As others have commented, change the shearscrew to the HEAVY DUTY. Both Zack & Licas @ TruTrak have been very helpfull. My problem now is the LOA. I purchased my CTsw used last April. The AP had been installed by Light Sport Airplanes West but after going through all the records it appears they did not get an LOA. Until last week I had no idea what an LOA was but now I'm taking the Rainbow LSRM course. Caroll Carpeneter has it painfully clear that a signed LOA is required. Does anyone with a CTsw and TruTrak AP have a Flight Design LOA??????????

 

al meyer

[Roger Lee]

Hi Al,

 

Tru Trak is the standard A&P unit for FD. It is a fleet approval and they usually come factory installed for many. You do need to fill out a modification or alteration form since it was added later and send it to them plus make sure it's in the logbook and weight/balance sheet and listed on the equipment list. Make sure you list the serial numbers of the components. I have that form already posted on the forum, somewhere.

[rookie]

Hi Roger,

 

Thanks a bunch, I'll look for the form.

 

al

[wlfpckrs]

All things considered (costs, maintenance issues, benefits, etc.), is the autopilot a good thing to have? Obviously, we bought our plane without it. I still love flying the plane "all by myself" and haven't experienced flying any other way.

[Runtoeat]

The Trutrak is a joy to have. I normally fly low and slow and enjoy the scenery and don't use it all of the time but it is just nice to have it when I want to look at a chart or when I just want to take a break from flying during long cross country trips. It flies my CTSW better than I can when I get in rough air. I would recommend installing this if you don't have it. I have the two axis AP and this will fly a course set up on my Garmin. It is JFM.

[CT4ME]

After three years of having the Digflight II VS staring me in the face, and not being able to use it, I really looking forward to finally using mine. The wife/navigator likes the idea, too, as a safety thing. She doesn't pilot... 'can't really even reach the pedals.

tim

[Brucegoose]

Hi to All,

 

What are your typical TT settings?

 

Regards

 

Bruce

[airhound]

CT4ME--Please further your thought...as a safety thing...

[CT4ME]

CT4ME--Please further your thought...as a safety thing...

First and foremost… If I become incapacitated, we could “go AP” and buy time while things are worked out. Even if it just enough time to properly slow down and pop the chute. She doesn’t fly, but can work the stick for short periods, but the inevitable happens given enough time. As a shorty, even with the seat all the way up, she can’t reach the pedals. It’s possible to “fly” the CT on autopilot by just touching a couple of buttons and rotating a knob. Besides the big “HA” the incapacitation could be something as simple as a coughing/sneezing fit, or throwing up, or maybe a bad Charlie horse.

 

It shouldn’t happen, but how about inadvertent IMC? Chances are much better that you’ll make it out the other side and not get disoriented.

 

Of course, for a long flight, there’s less fatigue, which probably equates to some increase in safety.

 

Tim

[Runtoeat]

Tim, as you know your TT A/P will turn the plane a chosen number of degrees and will also increase or decrease altitude at a chosen rate when you rotate the knob. The first time I did this in my CTSW it was a magic moment. For someone like your wife who appears to find it difficult to operate the flight controls, this ability to control the airplane by twisting a small knob is a powerful thing and I imagine this provides her with a feeling of satisfaction when she experiences the fact that she indeed can control the aircraft. Hi Ranger 6. Regarding your question about "safety", although the A/P may not be capable of landing the airplane, if a non-pilot is able to understand the basics of how to use the A/P and also how to use the radio, these two instruments will provide a novice the ability to keep the plane straight and level, and will buy some time for figuring out how one might get themselves out of a bad situation. This might mean that a temporarily incapacitated pilot, given some time, might regain enough of his/her facilties to verbally instruct the passenger how to land or, perhaps the passenger may be able to be talked down by radio. Of course, if one might experience inadvertent IMC, the A/P will allow one to quickly and accurately command the aircraft to turn 180 degrees and head straight back from where one came from and to carry out the "next step" of either finding a hole in clouds or looking for the "nearest" airports on the Garmin to set down if getting out of IMC isn't in the cards. The neat thing about the TT A/P is that this flies a "track" by taking into account input from a GPS and correcting for drift caused by wind.

[Runtoeat]

Hi to All,

 

What are your typical TT settings?

 

Regards

 

Bruce

 

Bruce, I tried to upload a Excel spreadsheet that has my TT A/P settings but couldn't seem to get this to upload. If you send me an email (reh3335@yahoo.com), I'll send you the file.

[airhound]

Bruce, I tried to upload a Excel spreadsheet that has my TT A/P settings but couldn't seem to get this to upload. If you send me an email (reh3335@yahoo.com), I'll send you the file.

Great ideas and perhaps even practical, however, to not short-change the PAX, the theory needs to be carried out in training. In theory APs can do all of that…but how do you put theory into practice is what makes the difference. I too am thinking about it all and how those little buttons and knob can be used by the innocent PAX. I’d be interested in your experience practicing actual procedures that you’ve developed with non-pilots; from Preflight briefings to actual drills and their outcomes. There are a lot of variables which change in different conditions that would have to be known/experienced by the PAX. Until the non-pilot actually performs specified tasks there remains a big leap of faith in the probability of a successful outcome. …Suggest the standard for a passenger to achieve positive control/stabilized flight is in seconds. Crawl-Walk-Run: Practice in the hanger at least, then non-instructor PICs can have the PAX go through the procedure in the air verbally, and then with an instructor they can actually perform the tasks during flight.….So non-pilot PAX have got to be proficient in this emergency drill if they are really expected to perform the theory and achieve a successful outcome. Anybody actually taking the theory to the next step?

[airhound]

Tim, as you know your TT A/P will turn the plane a chosen number of degrees and will also increase or decrease altitude at a chosen rate when you rotate the knob. The first time I did this in my CTSW it was a magic moment. For someone like your wife who appears to find it difficult to operate the flight controls, this ability to control the airplane by twisting a small knob is a powerful thing and I imagine this provides her with a feeling of satisfaction when she experiences the fact that she indeed can control the aircraft. Hi Ranger 6. Regarding your question about "safety", although the A/P may not be capable of landing the airplane, if a non-pilot is able to understand the basics of how to use the A/P and also how to use the radio, these two instruments will provide a novice the ability to keep the plane straight and level, and will buy some time for figuring out how one might get themselves out of a bad situation. This might mean that a temporarily incapacitated pilot, given some time, might regain enough of his/her facilties to verbally instruct the passenger how to land or, perhaps the passenger may be able to be talked down by radio. Of course, if one might experience inadvertent IMC, the A/P will allow one to quickly and accurately command the aircraft to turn 180 degrees and head straight back from where one came from and to carry out the "next step" of either finding a hole in clouds or looking for the "nearest" airports on the Garmin to set down if getting out of IMC isn't in the cards. The neat thing about the TT A/P is that this flies a "track" by taking into account input from a GPS and correcting for drift caused by wind.

Great ideas and perhaps even practical, however, to not short-change the PAX, the theory needs to be carried out in training. In theory APs can do all of that…but how do you put theory into practice is what makes the difference. I too am thinking about it all and how those little buttons and knob can be used by the innocent PAX. I’d be interested in your experience practicing actual procedures that you’ve developed with non-pilots; from Preflight briefings to actual drills and their outcomes. There are a lot of variables which change in different conditions that would have to be known/experienced by the PAX. Until the non-pilot actually performs specified tasks there remains a big leap of faith in the probability of a successful outcome. …Suggest the standard for a passenger to achieve positive control/stabilized flight is in seconds. Crawl-Walk-Run: Practice in the hanger at least, then non-instructor PICs can have the PAX go through the procedure in the air verbally, and then with an instructor they can actually perform the tasks during flight.….So non-pilot PAX have got to be proficient in this emergency drill if they are really expected to perform the theory and achieve a successful outcome. Anybody actually taking the theory to the next step?

[CT4ME]

Absolutely true... just like everything else in aviation, training and practice are essential. 'Went up with the wife for the first time "with Autopilot" (working). This time up, I just convinced her it works and gave her basics. We'll review and practice as time goes on. And I need to gain much more experience myself!

... with that in mind - the next question is...

 

tim

[CT4ME]

OK, so I've got the Digiflight IIvs working and it seems to work great... Except that it flies with the left wing a bit high, which puts the ball to the right about 1 full ball. BTW, my "level" is about 1/2 ball to the right, because the gauge is a bit off. I haven't called TruTrak yet.

So, how do I get it to fly "wings level"???

Tim

[Runtoeat]

Tim, first of all, I have talked to the TruTrak guys and they have been very friendly and very helpful. There is Robert, Zack or Lucas in Tech Support. Give them a call Monday and see if they can answer your question. I'm going to take a guess and I might be way off base but how about just trimming your plane to level the wings during A/P operation? The A/P gives the moving horizontal lines to alert the pilot that pitch is out of trim, telling the pilot to either trim up or down. The A/P doesn't give indication if the plane is out of trim for bank but I recall trimming my CTSW during A/P operation to correct uneven wings by trimming the aileron.