Pilot Products: New autopilot, old servos

The 3100 is an attitude-based, two- or three-axis system that looks and acts like the 55X pilots know so well. And since it allows current S-Tec owners to reuse their airplane’s existing pitch and roll servos, upgrade costs are targeted to be about 50 percent lower than other FAA-certified digital autopilots.

“It’s not a slide-in replacement for our analog autopilots since the electrical connectors are different,” said Simpson Bennett, marketing manager for Genesys Aero Systems (S-Tec’s corporate parent) in Mineral Wells, Texas. “But installation costs are typically less because we reuse the existing servos and some wiring.” Servos, the electric motors connected to the autopilot that actually move aircraft control surfaces, seldom fail. “Only about half of one percent of our fielded servo units come back to us for repairs,” Bennett said. “They’re extremely reliable.”

S-Tec autopilots are installed in about 40,000 airplanes, so there’s a significant market for upgrades. Prices begin at $20,000 for a new two-axis S-Tec 3100 system and $25,000 for a new three-axis system (including servos).

The company has supplemental type certificates for about 100 airplanes ranging from Beechcraft Bonanzas, Cessna 182s and 210s, up to twins and turboprops. The 3100 can work with a wide variety of avionics including Garmin, Aspen, and Avidyne glass panels, and digital or analog HSIs. The company says it will focus on higher-end airplanes and helicopters, and it won’t seek to follow non-TSO autopilots such as those being built by TruTrak, Trio, Garmin, or Dynon. —Dave Hirschman

PRICE: Begins at $10,000
CONTACT: genesys-aerosystems.com