CENTURY IIB AUTOPILOT

jrmcelrod@suddenlink.net

CENTURY IIB AUTOPILOT, when I activate, it will fly along ok for a bit then it starts oscillation, then it will put me in a gentle bank then it will finally turn back to the bug. if I remove the autopilot and either shake it a bit or blow on it then it will begin to work for a short time. but I am always getting the oscillation. 1976 piper archer ii

Scott Sherer

Hi and thanks for writing about your autopilot woes. I just spent about $2,500 to fix my Century 2000 altitude hold (oscillation) problems and it took a year. Let's be frank, you have a very old autopilot, perhaps as old as your airplane. You can spend megabucks to repair or overhaul it but in the end you're going to have a really old autopilot. I swapped out my old Century 3 autopilot about five years ago for a shiny new Century 2000 and I couldn't be happier. Yes, I had one expensive repair but it's a solid device with altitude hold and GPSS. You may look into a new or even used current generation autopilot from Century (www.centuryflightsystems.com) or S-Tec (Genesys) (http://genesys-aerosystems.com). They will both sell you an STC installation kit. Good luck and let us know what you decide.