Covers Installation Kit For The Non-TSO’d Trio Pro Pilot Digital Autopilot
The STC Group, LLC, today announced that it has received an STC for the installation kit for the non-TSO’d Trio Pro Pilot digital autopilot into Cessna 190, 195, LC-126A and LC-126B. The Cessna LC-126C prototype airframe is in the Oxnard, CA facility. The LC-126C project should be completed over the next month.
The full-featured Trio Pro Pilot autopilot brings a robust set of features to the legacy aircraft fleet at an affordable price.
The STC Group LLC has received excellent cooperation, and support, from the FAA. A team was assembled to certify the Trio Pro Pilot Experimental autopilot after becoming frustrated with efforts to install a traditional aftermarket autopilot in the CEO’s 1975 Cessna 182P. The team found that typical analog autopilots were expensive to buy and install and not very sophisticated.
The team is composed of engineers with experience at Cessna, Northrup Grumman, Piper Aircraft, and other aviation professionals with many years of professional experience.
Trio’s Pro Pilot autopilot has a proven record of reliability in the Experimental and warbird fleets. As such, it is an excellent off-the-shelf choice to retrofit into the legacy GA fleet based on its record of safety and reliability. The company’s STC covers all variants of the Cessna 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, Cessna 185, Grumman AA-5 models, and Piper PA28 models. STC’s are in the works for the Cessna 210, Navion, Piper Comanche, Beech Bonanza, and other types.
Trio Avionics was established in 2000. The two-axis Pro Pilot model utilizes roll and auto-trim pitch servos to provide precise horizontal and vertical navigation capabilities. Altitude control includes climb and descent functions with altitude pre-select. Vertical navigation can be flown at pilot-selected airspeeds or vertical speeds.
When connected to a WAAS-enabled GPS, Pro Pilot can fly the lateral and vertical portions of RNAV approaches and other procedures. The digital autopilot also provides flight envelope protection, nudging the flight controls away from an overspeed or stall situation. An “automatic 180-degree turn” feature can guide VFR pilots out of inadvertent weather encounters—a feature that has been credited with saving lives in Experimental aircraft.
Chuck Busch, Trio Avionics president and designer of the Pro Pilot, said, “As Experimental aircraft builders, our primary design goal has always been safety of flight. We are especially proud that our Pro Pilot incorporates many safety features that are unique in the industry.”
The STC Group’s efforts have benefited from the FAA’s willingness to reconsider its traditional certification methods. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to certification, the FAA is taking a risk-based approach to approving such projects, a move that will benefit many companies going forward, according to The STC Group.
(Source: The STC Group news release. Image from file)
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