First, I will say that I love the A2A cherokee and Just Flight turbo arrow. My go-to aircraft for VFR flying. However, I am planning to start IFR I-ratings training on Pilotedge. Looking for a slower aircraft with a functional autopilot, but not as slow as the c152 that I used for the CAT-ratings (turbo arrow would otherwise be great). I’m going to be busy just with the communicate part that I want more of a “set and forget” autopilot. Also, I like the G1000 but keeping my head steady enough (using Mobi) to work the dials is somewhat frustrating.
The only aircraft I see that has a modern autopilot that would work with the PMS GTN750 is the M20 for Carenado. Functioning systems not critical for what I need it for. Any other suggestions?
BlackSquare Caravan, Bonanza and Baron come straight to mind here. In fact any of the Blacksquare aircraft would do you proud. They are all excellent to operate.
I use head tracking as well and always struggled with operating the autopilot, radios and GPS using the mouse. Recently I got an Octavi IFR panel/box that lets me handle all this with hardware buttons, which is a huge improvement. Highly recommended!
There have been some issues with the BS aircraft on the autopilot side so you may want to research that if you fancy that route. The M20 seems solid enough on that front but for the best AP integration I personally think anything with a WT G1000 is the way to go. It helps if you setup some external control for it though. That eases the workload somewhat by speeding up the interaction with it.
The PMS 750 has a built in Autopilot - it’s under the Utilities icon. It’s only available to Premium license owners but despite the disclaimer pop up upon each use, it’s worked (and overrides) every third party and even MS-comissioned GA plane in my hanger that came with a legacy KAP-140/150 AP unit. I can even perform FLC climbs that the KAPs can’t. It’s full featured, has all the modes you’d find on a modern AFCS.
I have the M20R, the Carenado Piper Archer III, the Carenado MS-commissioned V35B, they all work with it.
For other Famous Flyers/Local Legends it will even work if you use the Toolbar 750 instance, since those cockpits don’t have 750 panel replacement integration. For the V35B, I use JayDee’s 750 on others Mod. The directly sold Carenados usually have a tablet option to swap out FMS panels.
Great info here guys, thanks so much. Totally forgot about the Otto pilot! I have all the black square upgrades and the GTN doesn’t seem to play well with them 100% of the time.
I will check out the hardware options. I otherwise like the G1000 and 3000