Rykymus
Line Up and Wait
I fly a 98 Archer III, with the STEC 30 (w/Alt hold). The autopilot is built-into the turn coordinator. About a month ago, my friend was flying the plane and found that the autopilot and turn coordinator had both lost power, and he could not get it back up. (He was flying VFR, luckily.)
The next day, my AP looked at it and found a loose wire. Tightened it, and was good to go. However, I noticed that for a few days after that, the turn coordinator was somewhat sluggish, and not giving accurate readings during the first 15-20 minutes of flight. (Like it needed time to wake up.) After that, no problem. After a few days, that problem went away as well, and everything worked fine for a few weeks.
Yesterday, on my way to LA, after climb out, I noticed that the autopilot refused to power up (although it did on ground check) but the turn coordinator was working. I continued on landing at my halfway point to fuel. The autopilot refused to power up during that ground check, but the turn coordinator was still working. Then, again after climb out, the turn coordinator stopped working as well. Both remained inop for the next two hops.
I left it with my AP again, and when they looked at it, it powered up just fine. (I will be taking it up myself later today to check the autopilot and the turn coordinator out myself.)
Here is my predicament. I have finished my IR training and I am practicing for my check ride on Nov 10. While I certainly do not need the autopilot for my check ride, I do need the turn coordinator. So I'm trying to decide whether I should pull it an send it to STEC now (which will take at least 4-6 weeks, and require me to cancel my check ride and reschedule for likely February) or continue practicing and hope that it works on the day of my check ride. (All in VMC, of course.)
I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on the possible causes to help guide me in my decision.
Thanks
The next day, my AP looked at it and found a loose wire. Tightened it, and was good to go. However, I noticed that for a few days after that, the turn coordinator was somewhat sluggish, and not giving accurate readings during the first 15-20 minutes of flight. (Like it needed time to wake up.) After that, no problem. After a few days, that problem went away as well, and everything worked fine for a few weeks.
Yesterday, on my way to LA, after climb out, I noticed that the autopilot refused to power up (although it did on ground check) but the turn coordinator was working. I continued on landing at my halfway point to fuel. The autopilot refused to power up during that ground check, but the turn coordinator was still working. Then, again after climb out, the turn coordinator stopped working as well. Both remained inop for the next two hops.
I left it with my AP again, and when they looked at it, it powered up just fine. (I will be taking it up myself later today to check the autopilot and the turn coordinator out myself.)
Here is my predicament. I have finished my IR training and I am practicing for my check ride on Nov 10. While I certainly do not need the autopilot for my check ride, I do need the turn coordinator. So I'm trying to decide whether I should pull it an send it to STEC now (which will take at least 4-6 weeks, and require me to cancel my check ride and reschedule for likely February) or continue practicing and hope that it works on the day of my check ride. (All in VMC, of course.)
I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on the possible causes to help guide me in my decision.
Thanks
