Garmin autopilot tweaking

[Dugaru]

So I'm tying to get my Garmin G5/307/autopilot installation dialed in for my RV-9A. I've updated to version 3.0. I've gathered the suggested settings below, but they seem to not quite match up with the available options when it comes to trim settings (possibly because of software version changes).

Does anyone have an updated set of these or, even better, suggestions based on flight in an RV-9?

Really loving this Garmin gear so far.

Thanks!

Roll Servo
Max Torque = 15%
Servo Gain = 0.40
Auto Trim Motor Speed = 5%
Fine Adjust Amount = 1
Fine Adjust Time = 0.20

Pitch Servo
Max Torque = 30%
Servo Gain = 1.30
Auto Trim Motor Speed = 5%
Fine Adjust Amount = 1
Fine Adjust Time = 0.20

Pitch Gain
Min Airspeed Limit = 65 kt (or as preferred)
Max Airspeed Limit = 180 kt (or as preferred)
Vertical Speed Gain = 1.00
Vertical Accel Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Accel Gain = 1.00

Roll Trim Motor Speed = 100% (fastest, 80 kt) / 25% (slowest, 150 kt)
Pitch Trim Motor Speed = 100% (fastest, 80 kt) / 25% (slowest, 150 kt)

[crabandy]

A call to SteinAir will fix you up, they had a cheat sheet of settings for me.

[g3xpert]

Originally Posted by Dugaru

So I'm tying to get my Garmin G5/307/autopilot installation dialed in for my RV-9A. I've updated to version 3.0. I've gathered the suggested settings below, but they seem to not quite match up with the available options when it comes to trim settings (possibly because of software version changes).

Does anyone have an updated set of these or, even better, suggestions based on flight in an RV-9?

Really loving this Garmin gear so far.

Thanks!

Hello Doug,

Glad to hear you are liking your G5 system with autopilot.

We have used these settings on both an RV-8A and our RV-7A and they work very well.

You will have to enable the "Expert Configuration" on your G5 to change the Fine Adjust Amount and Fine Adjust Time fields.

If you have specific tuning questions, it is probably best to contact us directly through email or phone as shown below.

Thanks,
Steve

Roll Servo
Max Torque = 15%
Servo Gain = 0.40
Fine Adjust Amount = 1
Fine Adjust Time = 0.20

Pitch Servo
Max Torque = 30%
Servo Gain = 1.30
Fine Adjust Amount = 1
Fine Adjust Time = 0.20

Pitch Gain
Min Airspeed Limit = 65 kt (or as preferred)
Max Airspeed Limit = 180 kt (or as preferred)
Vertical Speed Gain = 1.00
Vertical Accel Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Accel Gain = 1.00

Electric Trim
Airspeed Thresholds = 80 kt / 150 kt
Roll Trim Motor Speed = 100% / 25%
Pitch Trim Motor Speed = 100% / 25%

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Here's what I've got on my RV-9A:
Roll Torque 30%
Roll Servo Gain 0.65
Pitch Torque 60%
Pitch Servo Gain 2.15
Min Airspeed Limit 60 kt
Max Airspeed Limit 170 kt
Vertical Speed Gain = 1.00
Vertical Accel Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Gain = 1.00
Airspeed Accel Gain = 1.00

The pitch gain is way up because the autopilot won't hold altitude in a turn worth a hoot with the gain lower. Even so, the plane loses about 70 feet of altitude in a sustained turn. No surprise, with the pitch gain this high, the plane is right on the verge of oscillation in turbulence.

I'd never heard of the pitch fine adjustment settings. Then again, I'm running the autopilot from the G3X Touch, not from the G5.

Ed