Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
Planning a build of a tsi, and I'm building out my panel and electrical components. I was curious, can you add a third auto pilot servo for yaw dampening? I don't see anyone posting details on this?
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PhilipRueker
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Re: Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
The standard setup for the Sling is 2 axis - pitch and roll.
There is no standard design for the yaw axis for the Sling, but the Garmin Autopilot does support it, so it would be a matter of you having to engineer a way to add the yaw damper control.
It looks like Vans has some plans for the RV10, so I guess you could use that as a template if you want to engineer that.
It does also bring up the question of actual Rudder trim, which is something I've been thinking about as I felt that I needed a decent dose of right-rudder on takeoff (compared to currently flying Cessnas).
I figured I'd first build it out without and then see if I feel like it's needed and would retro-fit it like this person has done for his RV10.
There is no standard design for the yaw axis for the Sling, but the Garmin Autopilot does support it, so it would be a matter of you having to engineer a way to add the yaw damper control.
It looks like Vans has some plans for the RV10, so I guess you could use that as a template if you want to engineer that.
It does also bring up the question of actual Rudder trim, which is something I've been thinking about as I felt that I needed a decent dose of right-rudder on takeoff (compared to currently flying Cessnas).
I figured I'd first build it out without and then see if I feel like it's needed and would retro-fit it like this person has done for his RV10.
Re: Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
I don't think you need it for yaw damping. I asked about it at TAF Torrance and they looked at me kind of confused and said the TSi doesn't need it.
That being said, I'm looking forward for when they can integrate a servo connected to the rudder with the electronics for automatic turn coordination during flight. I don't think its necessary for autopilot, and of course it would have to have a disconnect switch for landings and other times you want to use cross control. It would be awesome to have perfectly coordinated turns with no manual rudder input though, just stick and throttle.
That being said, I'm looking forward for when they can integrate a servo connected to the rudder with the electronics for automatic turn coordination during flight. I don't think its necessary for autopilot, and of course it would have to have a disconnect switch for landings and other times you want to use cross control. It would be awesome to have perfectly coordinated turns with no manual rudder input though, just stick and throttle.
Re: Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
Ive been thinking about adding this to my TSi - do I need to have a rudder 'trim' setup before adding YD? Or can I just add a YD servo without needing to have a trim servo? Are they the same? Or am I overthinking all this? 
Re: Auto pilot - Yaw Damper
One of the things they had me do when I test flew the TSI at the factory was turns without touching the rudder. In normal flight, you can forget the rudder peddles entirely- the plane was very well coordinated. Would the yaw damper help in some other situation than normal cruise flight?
Future TSI Builder