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Yaw Damping

mdmba

Active Member
GMC 307...opinions on the yaw dampering feature....a must have or not needed?
 
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Not sure about the 10 but I installed one in a Glasair III and the owner raves about how great it is, I'd like to figure out how to install one in my 7 :D
 
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The -10 can have a bit of a tail wag in some conditions, but I never felt the need for yaw dampening(and I am a bells and whistles kind of guy).
 
GMC 307...opinions on the yaw dampering feature....a must have or not needed?

I think we'd all agree it's not a "must" have, but the -10's I've ridden in so far do seem to have just a smidge of tail wag, particularly in slow[er] flight and mild or greater turbulence. For example, flying the 90kt VFR arrival at OSH made it definitely noticeable, but I can't say I noticed it as much at normal cruise speeds. It is much more noticeable in the back seat than the front seat as well. Keep in mind too though, I'm speaking from only a small amount of flight experience as opposed to the many others on this forum who are already flying theirs.

I had to laugh at the "$1500 cool" comment. We are going with the YD on our build, and I hate to throw Sarah under the bus here but it was one of the few "better-half better-haves" listed for this build. It was already suggested to us by a local friend who has been flying his -10 for many years now and designed his own YD mount for his sorcerer a/p system... but once we got a ride in one with Sarah in the backseat, it went from "cool" to written in stone.

Anyway... since you're only asking about the 307 panel itself, I thought that they were the same price with or without the YD button? If that's the case, I'd almost definitely recommend getting the one with the button, in case you ever do want to install it later. Downside is of course, you'll have a useless "what's that do?" button if you don't actually install a Y/D servo.

Best of luck!
 
i think it would be pretty cool, but not $1,500 cool.

The cost for the 305/307 is the same with or without the Yaw button, price of the servo is $750.
If you're planning a system get the unit with the yaw button then if you decide to add yaw damp all you need in one more servo.
 
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the servo is 750 but then Garmin wants 750 for the mounting bracket. The mounting bracket seems somewhat overpriced for what it is.
 
The mounting bracket seems somewhat overpriced for what it is.

That's why we decided to fab our own mount... it isn't done so I haven't posted much info on our blog about it yet (I haven't posted much of *anything* lately :(), but basically you start with Van's ADAHRS mounting tray (the one that installs next to the elevator bellcrank), add some reinforcement, and fabricate a boomerang-style bellcrank with similar hinge geometry to the cable attachment points on the rudder itself, then connect the servo to the boomerang with a pushrod, and the boomerang to the existing rudder cables with another set of cables.

For peace of mind on an OE design though, I can't argue against buying the Garmin piece either. Just depends on what you're comfortable with tackling!


EDIT: You can barely see what I'm talking about to the far right of this image:
IMG_1113.JPG
 
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I considered a YD but most of the comments about the -10 were how little it needed it in cruise. A few comments like Mike's about slow speed, but then I thought "If I'm flying an approach (or the Oshkosh arrival), I'm definitely going to be hand-flying it, so the YD doesn't matter." Long story short, no YD is going in my -10.
 
I'm definitely going to be hand-flying it, so the YD doesn't matter.

Just a small clarification, I believe you can still hand-fly with the Y/D engaged, they are two separate functions within the autopilot. I'm actually more of a stick-and-rudder, hand-flying kind of guy (for now, anyway haha) myself, and feel like one of the biggest learning curves I'll face when transitioning to our -10 will be managing all these fancy avionics. I prefer to hand-fly over using an A/P in most every situation I've been in so far... so I guess my plan is to use the Y/D much more than the rest of the A/P, at least until I'm more accustomed to it all.
 
I have the Garmin Yaw Damper. I agree with the previous comments about the cost of the installation kit seeming to be over-priced especially in comparison to the other two installation kits. Of course, there are other costs that Garmin has to recoop beyond the obvious ones in making the brackets and a couple of cables. $1500 was tough to accept, but I am now glad I did it. It would be a PITA to add it later. Probably not that difficult, but you may want to take Yoga class first. Anyway, after about 30 hours of flying with it, I am convinced it was the right decision. I expect rear seat passengers will appreciate it, expecially in rough air.
 
My limited expierence in a plane with a Yaw dampener during take off was at 400' flaps up YD on... Landing was the reverse, on approach YD off and first increment of flaps. So I guess my question is what's the process on a smaller plane?
 
My limited expierence in a plane with a Yaw dampener during take off was at 400' flaps up YD on... Landing was the reverse, on approach YD off and first increment of flaps. So I guess my question is what's the process on a smaller plane?

I guess my thought would be to use it basically anytime you want automatic coordinated flight. I'd turn it off for unusual maneuvers or any other time you want "full" control of the airplane, and of course for takeoff and landing. But for your typical xc flight, I'd say that's about right.
 
Not needed but I DO HAVE IT

Wife loves it, enough said.
I enjoy it as it makes the ride very nice in rough weather and again the wife likes that. Yes it was $$ for the mount but as mentioned before sometimes you have to pay for what you want. Installation on a flying airplane is a PITA and I am a small guy who can climb into the back area. Not to mention I have an AC unit back there also!!!

For operational purposes what was described in a prior post is spot on.

My limited experience in a plane with a Yaw dampener during take off was at 400' flaps up YD on... Landing was the reverse, on approach YD off and first increment of flaps. So I guess my question is what's the process on a smaller plane?

You can hand fly all day long with the YAW ON separate from the other AP functions. However you BETTER disconnect the YAW damper if you have a trim servo on the rudder as it will crank it all the way one direction and make taxing seem like there is something wrong with the "free" rotating nose wheel and "free" moving rudder pedals. Turn it off and all goes back to normal.... its now in the check list!
 
You can hand fly with the autopilot on, too. But who does that? When I'm hand flying, I don't need any help, thank you very much. :rolleyes:
 
i think it would be pretty cool, but not $1,500 cool.

I have to backtrack on my previous statement. Last month I flew my friends A36 and played with the Yaw Damper, it was pretty neat. That coupled with my 10 year old throwing up during a turbulent landing back home caused me to change my opinion on it.

I now plan to buy Garmins seemingly overpriced bracket and an extra servo...
 
I didn't do it.... BUT

I purchase the YAW servo bracket.. but didn't know where it went...

Based on the majority of opinions, I decided not to do it, besides, I could not figure out how to mount it.

Just recently, I found a installation instruction and it was really simple. All I needed to do was purchase the servo and the wires. I have a Garmin system and it already has the software built into the system.

Now, I wish I had done it...
 
Can you use Ray Allen trim Servo for yaw

If you have a Ray Allen Servo on your rudder, why can't you hook you yaw damper to it?
 
If you have a Ray Allen Servo on your rudder, why can't you hook you yaw damper to it?

I suspect that may depend on what the rest of your yaw damper system is designed to control. I don?t see it as feasible with the Garmin avionics as their system uses CAN Bus to communicate with their smart autopilot servo.

I also doubt the Ray Allen servo has the clutch assembly and response speed to work in an autopilot system. The ones I?m familiar with are designed for trim applications which have different requirements.
 
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