S-TEC 55X Autopilot

Philip Greenspun's Homepage : Philip Greenspun's Homepage Discussion Forums : Aviation : One Thread
Notify me of new responses
Has anyone had experience with the S-TEC 55X autopilot? Any reviews or comments would
be great.
Im actually looking at this to be able to evaluate the new Tecnam light twin, which in specs I
really like.

-- Martin Antranik, April 8, 2009

Answers

Everyone with a Cirrus airplane, more or less, has this autopilot. It has been maintenance-free in our SR20 and works quite well in smooth air. It isn't great at intercepting a localizer or flying down an ILS (tends to weave, especially if it is windy or cross-windy). There is no comparison in performance between a rate-based autopilot like the S-TEC and the attitude-based autopilots such as the latest Garmin or the autopilots in big aircraft. For cheap and simple, though, the S-TEC is hard to beat.

-- Philip Greenspun, April 8, 2009