Installation manual

Avidyne | DFC90, 100 FAQs (Last updated: 26 June 2012)

• Adds support for the Entegra PFD equipped PA46 Matrix and Mirage aircraft;

• Changed system behavior such that in single AHRS equipped aircraft, if an

AHRS-Turn Coordinator Miscompare is observed in-flight, the autopilot will no

longer disconnect. The aural and text alerting remain but the autopilot stays

connected;

• Added support for Control Wheel Steering (CWS) [Not available in all aircraft –

requires a cockpit switch to activate];

• Added support for Takeoff/Go Around (TOGA) [Not available in all aircraft –

requires a cockpit/throttle switch to activate];

• Added support for Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI) [Not available in all aircraft];

• Added an alert to notify the pilot if the flaps are being oversped per POH airspeed

limits. This comes in the form of an aural alert (“Caution, Flap Overspeed”).

[requires the optional flap wiring modification];

• Provided suppression of Underspeed alerting while on short final, in the flare, and

during landing rollout. [requires the optional flap wiring modification – we use a

combination of flap position, manifold pressure value (if available) and ground

speed to determine when to suppress this alert];

• Moves the autopilot disconnect tone off of the SD card so that it is still capable of

being heard in the event of a MSR FAIL condition.;

• Changed the system behavior when on an ILS or WAAS glideslope and the glide

slope data is subsequently lost. Now the system will revert to ALT Hold mode

after approximately 5 seconds of no glide slope signal.

(DFC90, 100) Is there an on/off switch to the DFC autopilots? If not, how do I turn it

on? No, there is no on/off switch for the DFC autopilot. It reuses the old autopilot

circuit breaker. It powers up when the governing electrical bus is powered. (updated 24

July 2011)

(DFC90, 100) How much power/current does the DFC autopilot use? The DFC90/100

pulls 0.25A when no servos are in operation and up to 0.9A with all servos operating at

100% duty cycle.

(DFC90, 100) How much does the DFC autopilot weigh? Both the DFC90 and

DFC100 autopilots weigh 2 pounds. (updated 24 July 2011)

(DFC100) How does VNAV work in the DFC100? There is an in-depth description in

the DFC100 Pilot Guide but in short, when in VNAV mode on the DFC100, the autopilot

will follow whatever vertical constraints are entered into the FMS400/900W active flight

plan. For example, if an approach is loaded in the FMS, any vertical constraints (e.g. step

down fixes, “at or above” fix, “at” fix, “at or below” fix) will be automatically loaded

into the flight plan and the DFC100 will automatically adjust the aircraft altitude and

descent profile to meet those altitude constraints when in VNAV mode. One of the goals

of the final system is to be able to enter a flight plan into the FMS and when airborne,

press the NAV and VNAV buttons of the autopilot and never have to press any other

autopilot buttons for the remainder of the flight until it’s time to disconnect the autopilot.