Dugaru
Well Known Member
Okay, so the other day after takeoff I engaged my Garmin autopilot (my setup is a G5, GSA28 pitch and roll servos, and a GMC 307). I used the CWS/disconnect button on the stick, and the autopilot engaged at the existing pitch and roll. I love that feature.
I then configured it to follow the flight plan in my Garmin 430W (using the NAV button on the 307) and to go to my first assigned altitude, using the VS mode. All seemed to be going fine.
Instead of turning left at the first waypoint as planned, however, the autopilot ran the aileron trim all the way to the right, and then disconnected (yellow flashing AP). I got the aircraft back on course, centered the trim, and tried to engage the autopilot again. The same thing happened (trim right, then disconnect), followed by an AP with a red slash through it. I then got a red AFCS indication at the top of the G5. At that point, I was unable to turn the autopilot on, and neither the heading nor altitude dials on the 307 had any effect. So I hand flew from that point on.
After landing, on the "device info" page, the servos and 307 were grayed out. There was one "transmit error" logged.
Still on the ground, I recycled the breaker and at that point, the autopilot and 307 came back to life. The autopilot now turns off and on. I now have green checkboxes for the servos and 307. I ran the preflight test set forth in the manual and again everything seemed to be working correctly.
Since then, I've powered up and down several times, and the system seems to come up fine after the "PFT" indication.
I haven't flight tested it yet. Before doing so, does anyone have any ideas regarding what may have caused this failure? I'm running the latest 5.20 software, for what that's worth.
Thanks
Doug
I then configured it to follow the flight plan in my Garmin 430W (using the NAV button on the 307) and to go to my first assigned altitude, using the VS mode. All seemed to be going fine.
Instead of turning left at the first waypoint as planned, however, the autopilot ran the aileron trim all the way to the right, and then disconnected (yellow flashing AP). I got the aircraft back on course, centered the trim, and tried to engage the autopilot again. The same thing happened (trim right, then disconnect), followed by an AP with a red slash through it. I then got a red AFCS indication at the top of the G5. At that point, I was unable to turn the autopilot on, and neither the heading nor altitude dials on the 307 had any effect. So I hand flew from that point on.
After landing, on the "device info" page, the servos and 307 were grayed out. There was one "transmit error" logged.
Still on the ground, I recycled the breaker and at that point, the autopilot and 307 came back to life. The autopilot now turns off and on. I now have green checkboxes for the servos and 307. I ran the preflight test set forth in the manual and again everything seemed to be working correctly.
Since then, I've powered up and down several times, and the system seems to come up fine after the "PFT" indication.
I haven't flight tested it yet. Before doing so, does anyone have any ideas regarding what may have caused this failure? I'm running the latest 5.20 software, for what that's worth.
Thanks
Doug