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.