The Lost Children

By Gene Yarbrough

As a member of a fractional ownership flying club, we find ourselves in a certain predicament with our 1972 PA28-180. The bird is equipped with a Piper Autocontrol II autopilot (which is a Century III unit rebranded for Piper), and mechanical Attitude indicator and directional gyro, both of which are getting tired and sometimes act erratic.

We would like to install one of the several available drop in solid-state electronic AI and DG. However, we do not want to lose the functionality of our autopilot, which despite its age is still working perfectly fine. As we search for suitable and affordable options, we have found a major issue with what is available in industry.

Only 2 avionix manufacturers support the Century III/Piper autopilot, Aspen and Garmin. As a result the club is faced with investing on the order of $10k on an airplane that is only worth $50k at best. This is not a financially practical argument as the money invested will not equitably enhance the value of the airplane, yet some solution must be found. Even replacing the gauges with mechanical units poses some $5000 investment, but does not give any enhanced features or reliability preferred in the electronic units.

One would think technology this old would be well understood and with a market of 10’s of thousands of units as potential customers it would make business sense to support this particular platform. There is more to the story than meets the eye.

Airventure is the perfect opportunity to approach these instrument manufacturers to understand why this particular autopilot is not supported. Technical representatives at several of the respective instrument producers including uAvionix, Dynon, and Avidyne said nearly the same thing regarding the Century Autopilots, the input required to activate them is not easily converted from the newer digital instruments. The Century units require an AC input signal, whereas Garmin and Aspen offer converter boxes, the other manufacturers have not, and therefore cannot support the Century units. It would seem this is a rather small complication, and would be a justified development project given the potential market.

Certainly many other aircraft owners find themselves in a similar situation. Perhaps the companies competing in this market will realize the potential and offer a solution. Maybe some electronics savvy person out there reading this can gin up a converter box, maybe a new business opportunity?

FMI: www.eaa.org