EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev E TRUTRAK FLIGHT SYSTEMS 1500 S. Old Missouri Road Springdale, AR 72764 Ph. 479-751-0250 Fax 479-751-3397 www.trutrakflightsystems.
INSTALLATION MANUAL FOR EFIS Autopilots TABLE OF CONTENTS OPERATION OF THE BASIC FLIGHT INSTRUMENT ................................................ 1 OPERATION OF THE EFIS PILOT ................................................................................. 1 MECHANICAL CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................................. 2 PITOT AND STATIC CONNECTIONS ........................................................................... 2 RFI/EMI ...........................
OPERATION OF THE BASIC FLIGHT INSTRUMENT As with our autopilot products, extensive attention has been given to providing the simplest operation. No sequential pressing of buttons is required to reach basic control functions and no additional button pressing is required to set values. Starting with a clean sheet of paper the layout of controls (two knobs and five soft keys) is sufficient to handle all EFIS and built in autopilot control functions.
Mechanical Installation Considerations PROGRAMMER INSTALLATION Mounting Considerations The EFIS Series unit is designed to mount in the aircraft instrument panel within view and reach of the pilot. The primary unit location should minimize pilot head movement when transitioning between looking outside of the cockpit and viewing/operating the EFIS Series unit. Maximum recommended viewing angle should be no more than 20 deg.
Servo Installation The installation information in this section is extremely important and must be clearly understood by the installer. Improper servo installation or failure to observe and diagnose installation problems prior to flight can result in extremely serious consequences, including loss of ability to control the aircraft. If there are any questions on the part of the installer it is mandatory to resolve these questions prior to flight of the aircraft.
THE DISPLAY Consider first the pitch display. Motion of the pitch display short term is gyroscopic as it must be to fly in IMC. Long term it is VSI. This is a special case of a presentation used in the military called VELOCITY VECTOR. This display has two advantages. The first is that it provides an instantaneous vertical speed presentation. The second is that when the reference airplane is on the horizon the aircraft is neither climbing nor descending.
Automatic Arrival Transition In an aircraft tracking a course inbound to a destination airport, the letters CRS will appear above the far left soft key when the distance becomes less than 30 miles. When CRS is showing, the autopilot can be programmed to fly a transition from the enroute arrival course to a selected arrival course set into the HSI.
Operating controls As with our autopilot products, extensive attention has been given to providing the simplest operation. No sequential pressing of buttons is required to reach basic control functions and no additional button pressing is required to set values.
ALTITUDE BUG Click the soft key beneath ALT provides a screen for preselecting the altitude. The GREEN BUG on the altimeter will move to the closest 100 ft mark of the current altitude. Then rotating the right hand knob SELECT ALT will allow the altitude to be selected. Each step of the rotary encoder moves the bug 500 ft. while depressing the knob and rotating provides 100 ft. steps and then click ENTER.
SETUP SCREENS STYLE, ATT, ZERO, INFO, UNITS, BALL, ALERTS, SPEEDS, SERIAL, LAT AP, YD, VRT AP, AUDIO To enter the setup screen the press the right knob until SETUP shows below the HSI then click the soft key below SETUP at the same time. Click the button below any selection to enter and adjust that function. Click the MORE button or rotate the right knob to progress through the different setup selections.
INFO This button will display the information about all the components that are connected to the EFIS communication buss, Serial numbers, Software version, and Model type. The LEFT KNOB must be clicked to return to the main page. UNITS Under this button the UNIT of measure for the BARO ( IN HG, MBAR) or DIST (NM, MI, KM) readouts can be set. BALL After installation in the aircraft, center the ball by rotating the right knob. Click the right knob to return to the SETUP screen.
SPEEDS (airspeed limitation arcs) Set for aircraft before first flight! VSO Bottom of the white arc. The stall speed or the minimum steady flight speed in the landing configuration. VS Bottom of the green arc. The stall speed or the minimum steady flight speed clean configuration. VFE Top of the white arc. Maximum flap extended speed. VNO Top of the green arc. Maximum structural cruise speed. VNE Red line, Top of yellow arc. Never exceed speed. Click the right knob to return to the SETUP screen.
AUTO PILOT SETTINGS Rotate the right knob NEXT on the first setup page to enter the AP setup pages. LAT AP VRT AP ACTIVITY (Setting range 0 – 36) The velocity at which the servo moves the control surface. The higher the number the more movement you will see in the control surface. With a standard servo (DSB-X, DSP-X) you should start at 0 then work your way up in flight to set the level for your aircraft.
HALF-ST (Setting Range N or Y) This setting will cause the servo to take smaller steps, but will also reduce the torque available. Normally this setting is “N”, if the aircraft nose moves up and down very slightly in VERY calm air, and it can be verified that the servo is only moving one step for each “bobble” of the nose, then select “Y”. Only very light aircraft that are extremely pitch sensitive will need to adjust this setting.
EFIS SOFTWARE UPDATES Compact Flash Card Slot The EFIS software is updated by inserting a Compact Flash card (CE) in the back top slot. With the back of the card up. Software is available from TruTrak to install on a flash card. Then apply power to the EFIS and monitor the screen. Follow the instructions on the screen. When power is reapplied to the EFIS, the new software will be installed. If more than one unit is updated the software load will take longer.
VNAV VNAV (vertical navigation) is the ability to command the EFIS AP to fly to a specified altitude in a specified distance (max 99 miles). Maximum VS descent is 3000 ft/min. The FD and or AP must be engaged. Click the ALT button and set your new altitude below your current altitude, do NOT click [ENTER]. Click the DIST button to select the distance to the new altitude, Click the right knob [ENTER]. The display will show VNAV and the altitude and distance to the new altitude hold.
GPSS / GPSV APPROACH EFIS AP IV ONLY Program the GPS for an approach to the airport and activate the procedure. Engage ether the AP for autopilot control or the FD for hand flight. Select GPSS and engage ALTitude hold in the EFIS AP IV. Fly the approach along the GPSS approach path. After the aircraft is on long final, the GPS will send a valid GPSV signal. The EFIS will display the GPSV (white) to the right of the AP/FD label. If the signal is not valid the GPSV will display GV FLG.
Initial Setup & Ground Checkout Must be performed before first flight Once wiring and servo installation are completed, the autopilot should be tested in the aircraft while on the ground. The first step is to enter the setup modes on the autopilot and set all parameters to their correct values. Apply power to the EFIS autopilot. After approximately five seconds, the EFIS autopilot is ready to be setup for operation. Follow the SETUP SCREENS section above to set the different settings.
to flex in any way that could cause control system lockup at the extremes of servo travel. Insure that any “lost motion” in the linkages is eliminated or minimized, in order to maximize the performance of the autopilot. Lost motion (dead zone) will result in wandering or slow “hunting” behavior in flight. The next step in the check-out procedure is to verify that the serial input from the GPS receiver is being properly received and interpreted.
First Flight The first flight should be done after having completed all the setup and testing on the ground. For the first flight, it is important that the GPS unit is properly functioning with the EFIS. The two activity adjustments (LAT ACTVTY and VRT ACTVTY) determine how briskly the autopilot responds to roll and pitch disturbances. They can be adjusted, in flight, over a wide range; thus the autopilot can be tailored to adapt to any aircraft installation.
MICRO setting in most aircraft will be left at zero (0). Micro activity is used only in aircraft in which a slow pitch rock has been observed in very still air. Sometimes there will be a small amount of lost motion in an aircrafts control system, and the micro activity setting is a way to compensate for the lost motion. Once the desired MICROACTIVITY has been selected, click the right knob to return to the setup screen. The HALF-STEP setting in most cases will not need to be changed.
Electrical Pin-out EFIS with Yaw Damper will be covered in this manual. The table below provides a brief explanation of each pin function on the main 37-pin connector P101. P101 Autopilot Rear Connector (Viewed from rear of autopilot) or wire side of connector. P101 Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Function Notes Dedicated ground connection for Pitch Reverse Jumper.
Autopilot Rear Connections to P101 (Continued) P101 Pin 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Function Notes SPARE SWT No Connection Primary Serial Input. Baud rate selectable, 4800 or 9600 baud. Automatically decodes NMEA-0183, Garmin Aviation Format, or Apollo/UPSAT Moving-Map or GPSS format. Provides directional reference to the autopilot.
EFIS AP Basic Wiring Diagram EFIS AP Block Diagram TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 22 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
EFIS AP with Options TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 23 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 24 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
Panel Templates TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 25 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 26 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
TruTrak Flight Systems April 2009 27 EFIS Autopilot Installation Manual 8300-057 Rev D
AP I Quick Reference Button labels Click Press Enter – – – – White - mode is OFF, Green - mode is ON Momentarily push and release any knob or button Push and hold any knob or button for 2 seconds and release Click knob labeled [ Enter ] Basic Operation Barometer adjust Track bug adjust Altimeter bug adjust – – – Altimeter bug cancel Dimmer function – – Nav mode Nav mode cancel – – Rotate right knob Rotate left knob Click ALT button, bug will synchronize to nearest 100 feet Rotate right knob to sele
AP II Quick Reference Button labels Click Press Enter – – – – White - mode is OFF, Green - mode is ON Momentarily push and release any knob or button Push and hold any knob or button for 2 seconds and release Click knob labeled [ Enter ] Basic Operation Barometer adjust Track bug adjust Altimeter bug adjust – – – Altimeter bug cancel Dimmer function – – Nav mode Nav mode cancel – – Rotate right knob Rotate left knob Click ALT button, bug will synchronize to nearest 100 feet Rotate right knob to sel
AP III Quick Reference Button labels Click Press Enter – – – – White - mode is OFF, Green - mode is ON Momentarily push and release any knob or button Push and hold any knob or button for 2 seconds and release Click appropriate knob Basic Operation Barometer adjust Track bug adjust Altimeter bug adjust – – – Altimeter bug cancel Dimmer function – – Nav mode Nav mode cancel – – Rotate right knob Rotate left knob Click ALT button, bug will synchronize to nearest 100 feet Rotate right knob to select n
AP IV Quick Reference Button labels Click Press Enter – – – – White - mode is OFF, Green - mode is ON Momentarily push and release any knob or button Push and hold any knob or button for 2 seconds and release Click knob labeled [ Enter ] Basic Operation Barometer adjust Track bug adjust Altimeter bug adjust – – – Altimeter bug cancel Dimmer function – – Nav mode Nav mode cancel – – Rotate right knob Rotate left knob Click ALT button, bug will synchronize to nearest 100 feet Rotate right knob to sel
TruTrak Flight Systems No Penalty Upgrade Policy As the product line continues to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a simple upgrade policy. We do want to reward our repeat customers by allowing a lower cost upgrade from one system to another; however we are not able to offer this across the board on all products. If you are considering an upgrade, please call and we will give you a quote on what this would cost.
RETURN MERCHANDISE POLICY AND PROCEDURE Under no circumstances should products be returned to TruTrak without first obtaining a Return of Merchandise Authorization number (RMA #) from TruTrak. An RMA# may be obtained by contacting us at 866-878-8725. Products that do not have an RMA # will not be processed. Please include documentation stating the reason for the return and describing any symptoms, failure modes, suspected causes of damage, diagnostics performed, data collected, etc.
TruTrak Flight Systems, Inc. 1500 S. Old Missouri Rd. Springdale AR 72764 (479) 751-0250 FAX (479) 751-3397 www.trutrakap.
