Trio Pro Pilot vs Aerocruze 100 Autopilot

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rickdrey

Filing Flight Plan
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rickdrey
Looking for feedback from anyone who has either the Trio Pro Pilot or the BK Aerocruze 100 AP. I am deciding between these two for our 1968 PA-28-180. The GFC 500 is significantly more expensive, so not looking for anyone recommending that one

If you have either installed, I would love feedback on what you like or dislike about it. Also if you compared between these two, why did you ultimately choose the system you did?
 
I have no experience with the BK Aerocruze 100 AP. I have installed the experimental version Trio Pro Pilot three times and have flown with it for probably over 1000 hours. The comments below are based on my experience with the experimental version in experimental aircraft.

The Trio is pretty simple to operate in the basic functions of altitude hold and following course or heading. I could never get it to work acceptably well in climb or descent. Altitude hold was never great in my extremely pitch sensitive Lancair, but worked fine in our RV. I really liked the ability to turn on/off the servos independently. On climbs and approaches in IMC I would leave the roll servo on while hand flying the elevator.

Customer service with the guys at Trio has been great over many years of my interaction with them.
 
I have the Trio pro pilot installed in my PA-24. I selected it because it was basically the only one available. Garmin too expensive.
I have Dynon SkyView in my plane but AP not approved for the PA-24.

I installed the unit myself. The airplane's interior and panel were already out for annual inspection and upgrades, so the AP install only took 3-4 hours. Obviously would have been a much bigger project if the airplane was put together. Installation instructions are pretty good.

Like Forane, no issues with course and altitude. Agree that climb and descent mode aren't the best. Took a fair bit of in-flight tuning.

My airplane has Dynon SkyView. My last airplane had SkyView with the Dynon Autopilot. That system will spoil you for anything else! I REALLY REALLY wish I could have added the SkyView AP.

Interface from SkyView to the AP is so-so. I just had the AP firmware updated, but have not flown yet. Hopefully it is better.

Over past years, BK support has not been the best. I have never heard any complaints about customer service with The STC Group / Trio. Jeff and his people are top notch.
 
I have the Trio Pro installed in my Tiger, interfaced to a Garmin 430W. Everything in the roll axis works great, Nav track, Heading, and track intercept. Vertical Speed climbs/descents, level off/capture, and altitude hold work good. Altitude hold in a large heading change, greater than 90-120 degs of change requires some tuning of gains which you can do on your own, or a some help with back pressure. The issue I think is that you do not have auto trim, and most pilots when hand flying automatically pull back on the yoke. For longer timed turns, with the autopilot, you need to get on the trim quicker, or provide a little pilot assist, AP will hold within 50-100 ft if you do nothing. RNAV/GPS approaches are amazing. Tracks both vertical and lateral really well. The STC Group has been more than willing to assist me on the phone.
 
Socal Flying Monkey reviewed the Aerocruze 100 here:

I flew with a friend who has it coupled to GPS 175, and it flew an approach perfectly.
 
pa28-180 - chose Trio over BK as like the ability to turn on/off vertical and horizontal separately. Also, preferred the 'buttonology' of the Trio. Coupled to GNC355, flies perfectly even in mild turbulence. Lack of auto trim is less of an annoyance than I thought, and definitely not as 'intrusive' as the BK. Had it installed by the STC group who did a very clean install, test flew it and adjusted settings then handed over a perfectly functioning autopilot which I've now had for 2 years trouble free.
 
I have a Trio EZ auto-pilot which is a one axis roll control unit. It handles mild turbulence very well and the unit is easy operate. I don't have pitch control but not really needed for VFR as I can set trim for climb and once at altitude, trim for level. Down low in the thermals I have to monitor the altitude a bit but it's usually not an issue ...
 
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I recently purchased a Trio for my PA28 180 straight wing. Scheduled to be installed over the next few weeks. My decision to go with Trio was mostly based on not wanting to deal with Bendix. The Trio developers appear more enthusiastic and supportive of the product.
 
I have an Aspen E5, Garmin 530w and the Aerocruze 100. This system works well once you learn the correct order of button pushing and knob turning. The shop that installed it was doing one Aerocruze per month so I was sure it would be installed correctly.

What I like about the Aerocruze: It does everything that it is advertised to do. It has the blue AP level button which I tell my passengers is the Oh **** button which they can push if something happens to me. The envelope protection works well. I really like the altitude pre-select used before takeoff. Using 0’ in vertical speed mode works better than altitude hold in turbulence.

What I don’t like: Setting the altitude in turbulence can be a little difficult. It is not approved for coupled approaches (it works just fine in VFR conditions, and I would not hesitate to use it in an emergency IFR situation). Setting the altitude bug on the E5 does not set the altitude on the Aerocruze. I’m sure this is an Aspen issue and not the fault of the Aerocruze. The trim light can be annoying but a slight push or pull on the yoke will most likely be all that is required.
 
Scottie Melancon said:
I recently purchased a Trio for my PA28 180 straight wing. Scheduled to be installed over the next few weeks. My decision to go with Trio was mostly based on not wanting to deal with Bendix. The Trio developers appear more enthusiastic and supportive of the product.
Click to expand...
Fwiw, the trio developers have very little to do with the certified product. A third party group did the certification work and that's who you deal with.
 
I don't have the Aerocruze 100, but as a customer of BK with another BK autopilot, I would not buy anything from them. They apparently have a Customer Prevention Department that sets their parts pricing...

In the first 5 years of having the plane with the BK autopilot, I spent more than the cost of a GFC500 keeping the BK autopilot running. 0/10, do not recommend.
 
Scottie Melancon said:
I recently purchased a Trio for my PA28 180 straight wing. Scheduled to be installed over the next few weeks. My decision to go with Trio was mostly based on not wanting to deal with Bendix. The Trio developers appear more enthusiastic and supportive of the product.
Click to expand...
@Scottie Melancon did you get this installed? I'm looking to get some first-hand knowledge and insight from someone who installed in a Piper. I have a PA32.
 
I have an Aerocruze 100 on a Dakota. It flies as accurately as any autopilot. While it does not fly coupled approaches, it handles LPV brilliantly. I once inadvertently proved that it will fly wheels down to the centerline if left on the entire way. While I absolutely do not recommend this experiment be repeated, it did prove to me that it is accurate and capable. I have not had any reliability issues in 3 years of use.
 
I have the Aerocruz 100 installed on my Cardinal. It is an original TruTrak model and TT was great about service when I needed a firmware upgrade to tie into my G5s - I don’t have experience with Bendix. The unit does everything it is supposed to do. Flies straight, flies curves, takes heading and altitude input from my G5s and will fly an LPV approach down to the runway if you let it. I have found that rather than chasing the trim annunciation I leave it in a needed mild down trim state and it helps to keep it from searching for altitude. Six years installed and it has worked perfectly.
 
I just purchased a AeroCruze 100 to install in a Turbo Arrow IV. Not fond of dealing with BK if anything happens but seems like getting it up and running is work the money vs. a GFC500 (Yes a superior AP but considerably more expensive... 2x o 3x..)
 
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