Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Rob P
#1114993
This from elsewhere:

I fly with a friend in his late 1970s Piper Arrow 200 that is fitted with a simple autopilot called the "Autoflite II".

I wish to be able to fully understand its operation but there is nothing in the aircraft manual, nor can I find anything on the web, any assistance would be much appreciated.


Rob P
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By MCM
#1114998
The aircraft I first started learning in had one, but it was always placarded u/s. Not worth fixing I assumed.
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By Rob P
#1115002
Many thanks.

Rob
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1115014
Sorry: I've looked at our Autocontrol3 and Coupler manual and it differs significantly from the Autoflite stuff in Chris's post, so won't be much good to you.

Peter
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By Old Pilot
#1115024
Rob P wrote:This from elsewhere:

I fly with a friend in his late 1970s Piper Arrow 200 that is fitted with a simple autopilot called the "Autoflite II".

I wish to be able to fully understand its operation but there is nothing in the aircraft manual, nor can I find anything on the web, any assistance would be much appreciated.


Rob P


Basic wing leveller and VOR tracker Rob.
By Lefty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1115025
If you can post a picture of the controls of this a/pilot - I can probably tell you how to user it. (I've used pretty much all the different versions of the Piper Autoflite A/P).
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By Old Pilot
#1115033
There were a few variants but they all worked via a basic servo on the ailerons linked to a heading bug on the DI and a link to the VOR.
By Lefty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1115040
Thats why I said to post a photo of the controls - it is then very easy to explain how to use them. They are all basically the same - it is just the controls that vary.
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By Old Pilot
#1115042
Lefty wrote:Thats why I said to post a photo of the controls - it is then very easy to explain how to use them. They are all basically the same - it is just the controls that vary.


The Altimatic/Century 3 I had on my 78 Lance just had a servo on the elevator coupled to the glideslope on the VOR Lefty.

Is yours the same?
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1115057
I doubt very much the Autoflite has any kind of altitude control, the Autocontrol 3 certainly doesn't.
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By SteveN
#1115149
A club 180 I used to fly had an Autoflite II. I think you will find it is just a badge engineered Century I.
By Lefty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1115350
Old Pilot wrote:
Lefty wrote:Thats why I said to post a photo of the controls - it is then very easy to explain how to use them. They are all basically the same - it is just the controls that vary.


The Altimatic/Century 3 I had on my 78 Lance just had a servo on the elevator coupled to the glideslope on the VOR Lefty.

Is yours the same?


Mine is an Altimatic 3B (a badged Century 3). It has the following capabilities (or it did when new)
1) Wing leveler
2) Heading Hold
3) Track VOR or localiser
4) Altitude hold
5) since I've had the GNS 530 wired into CDI #1 - it will now also track a GPS course.

The altitide hold works via a rotary servo that is connected to the elevator trim tab cables. (My servo is currently u/s)

The are all basically the same systems - just with slightly different control units - dependent on which options were originally purchased.

The major problems with these old units are the very old switches which have dodgy / high resistance contacts (which mess up the low voltage analogue signals) - and the (medieval) flat pin plugs and sockets that are used to connect between the various control units and the main "processor" box. On my a/c, we have to put the cables under tension to try to ensure that the connectors maintain a reasonable connection.
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By Old Pilot
#1115445
I don't think sitting around in the sort of damp conditions we have experienced this year helps.