AUTOCONTROL

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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
753 - 641
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OPERATING
INSTRUCTIONS
for

AUTOCONTROL
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PIPER AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
Additional copies of this manual may be purchased
by writing to the SERVICE DEPARTMENT,
PIPER AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, Lock Haven,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Published by
TECHNICAL PRODUCTIONS
Piper Aircraft Corporation
January 1963
 AUTOCONTROL II

FOREWORD

The Piper AutoControl H is a high quality, lightweight,

two control AutoPilot, designed specifically for the Piper
single engine and twin engine aircraft. The, purpose of the
AutoControl H is to hold the aircraft on a selected course; it
also permits the pilot to make course changes automaticany
through the use of the Heading Selector.
Safety over-ride discs have beenincorporated inthe Auto-
Control H so that in an emergency it can manually be over-
powered.
 AUTOCONTROL II

WARRANTY

Piper Aircraft Corporation hereby warrants each new

AutoControl to be free from defects in material and workman-
ship under normal use and service. Its obligation under this
warranty is limited to making good at its factory any part or
parts thereof which shall, within ninety (90) days after delivery
ofsuch A.utoControl totheoriginal purchaser orfifty (50) hours
of operation, whichever shall first occur, be returned to it with
transportation charges prepaid and which its examination shall
disclose to its satisfaction to have been defective. No other
warranty shall be implied by law or otherwise, and no other or
further obligationor liability shall be incurred by Piper A.ircraft
Corporation by reason of the sale of any AutoControl or part
thereof or its use whether for breach of warranty (expressed
or implied by law, or otherwise) or negligence in manufacture,
or otherwise. Upon the expiration of the period above stated,
any such obligation or liability shall terminate. In no event
shall Piper A.ircraft Corporation be liable for special or con-
sequential damages No distributor,
. dealer, agent, or employee
of Piper A.ircraft Corporation is authorized to extend any other
or further warranty, or incur any additional obligation, in its
behalf in connection with the sale of its products .
A.UTOCONTROL II AUTOCONTROL II

REGISTRATION DESCRIPTION
The warranty on the Piper AutoControl becomes effective
immediatelyupon delivery ofthe aircraftin whichitis installed The Piper A.utoControl II is an advanced and miniaturized
to the original purchaser, or in the case of a field installation, two-control AutoPilot consisting of four principal parts: the
upon installation of the unit, provided the attached Warranty Directional Gyro and A.rtifical Horizon, the Roll Servo andthe
Registration Card is mailed back to the factory within ten (10) transistorized Amplifier which contains the Turn Control,
days of such delivery or installation. In the event of failure to Engage Control and Heading Lock.
return the Registration Card, the warranty period shall start
at the date of manufacture of the unit. Be sure field install-
ation personnel record serial numbers of the components as 1 2 3
they are being installed. Serial numbers are inaccessible
after installation.

HANDLING OF WARRANTY MATTERS

All service and warranty matters in connection with the

Piper AutoControl can be handled by any Piper Sales A.gency. -----

AutoControl II Console

1. Turn Trim Knob 2 Heading Lock Button

.

3. Servo Engage Control

The Amplifier is a single unit which mounts in the instru-

ment panel
and serves as a console for the various controls of
the AutoControl II. The Directional Gyro and A.rtifical Hori-
zon both have internal modifications which send signal infor-
mation to the A.mplifier The Roll Servo is a motor and gear
.

device which is attached to the aileron control system. On the

Apache and A.ztec the Servo is attached to the co-pilots cpntrol
column, under the instrument panel The Servo in the Comanche
.

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A.UTOCONTROL II AUTOCONTROL II

is attached to the pilot's control on the engine side of the fire- MALFUNCTION
wall. The Cherokee has the Servo mounted in the center of the
Control Column under the instrument panel. In the event any component ofthe AutoControl II fails dur-
The Roll Engage Knob servestwo purposes: It engagesthe ing flight, the system is completely disengaged by pulling out
Servo unit to the control wheel shaft by meshing a set of gears on the Roll Engage Knob. If the Directional Gyro should fail
and atthe same time itoperates an electric switch whichener- during flight and precess excessively, the Heading Lock Button
gizes the Amplifier of the AutoControl H. should be pushed to the "Out" position and the direction of the
The Turn Trim Knob also serves two functions: At the aircraft controlled through the Turn Trim Knob.
timethe "push-on, push-off" button, identifiedas Heading Lock
(H.L.) is pushed to the "Out" position, a full 90° right or left
rotation ofthe Turn Trim Knob will give a manually controlled ROUGH AIR OPERATION
turn with a bank of up to 25°. When the H.L. button is pushed
to the "In" position, the Turn Trim Knob functions as a Trim It is perfectly safeto operate the A.utoControl H in any air
Knob to compensate for minor corrections of the Directional encountered. Rough air operation will not cause any damage
Gyro heading. This applies for both the Zero Heading Direc- tothe AutoControl II nor canthe AutoControl U causeany extra
tional Gyro orthe Course Selector Directional Gyro. The trim stress to the aircraft.
is usedto align the zero onthe Zero Heading Directional Gyro,
or in the case of the Course Selector to have the Directional
Gyro card aligned with the Course Selector. GUST LOCK
The AutoControl II draws only 20 milliamps current for
standby operation and 1-1/2 amps during maximum signal. No The AutoControl II can be used to "lock the ailerons" while
warm-up is necessary as the transistors in the A.mplifier are the aircraft is tied down. This in no way causes any damage
operational immediately. There is 4-1/2 pounds additional to the unit provided the aircraft's master electrical switch is
weight added to an aircraft which is already equipped with "Off".
standard Gyro instruments .

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AUTOCONTROL II AUTOCONTROL II

In the case of the Course OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

Selector Directional Gyro most
generally the Heading Lock
Buttonwouldbeinthe"In"posi- BEFORE ENGAGING AUTOCONTROL II
HEA tion a.nd all turns made through
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LDEK the use of the Course Selector. Before engaging the AutoControl II insure the ball of the
Turg and Bank is centered. If the ball is not centered it will
OVERPOWERING AUTO result in the Directional Gyro not holding the exact heading.
CONTROL II

At any time the pilot finds ENGAGING AUTOCONTROL II

Figure 2 it necessary to overpower the
AutoControl II to change the To engagethe AutoControl II the Directional Gyro must be
direction of the aircraft, he may do so by simply exerting a set. If a Zero Heading Directional Gyro is installedset Direc-
force of 16 lbs. on the control wheel. A slip disc is provided tional Gyro to 0° heading. If a Course Selector Directional
in the Servo which allows this, however, frequent over-riding Gyro is installed set the Directional Gyro with the compass
of the Servo should be avoided to prevent the loss of proper and the Course Selector to the desired heading. The reason
tension of the disc. for setting the Zero Heading Directional Gyro at Oo is thatthis
unit is designed to lock on and hold a heading only at the 00
TURNING OFF AUTOCONTROL Il position. The Course Selector Directional Gyro will control
a heading on any degree of the Directional Gyro card to which
It requires only that the Roll Engage Knob be pulled fully the Course Selector has been set.
aft. Center the Turn Trim Knob (Figure 1, Item 1) andposition
the Heading Lock button toits "In" position. (Figure 1, Item 2)
GROUND CHECKING Push in the Roll Engage Knob. (Figure 1, Item 3) If this knob
resists full travel, rock the control wheel slightly until the
The Horizon Gyro must be indicating level flight, then set gears in the Servo line up, this will allow full movement of the
the Directional Gyro (Zero Heading Gyro set to zero Course engaging knob.
Selector Gyro set to match reading of Directional Gyro card) .

Center the Turn Trim Knob, then engage the Roll Knob, the
control wheel should center. Push Heading Lock Button to "In" TRIM CONTROL
position. Zero Heading Directional Gyro; cage and turn.Direc-
tional Gyro right and left, observe that control wheel follows. Theknob marked Turn Trim (Figure 1, Item 1) is usedfor
Course Selector Directional Gyro; turn Course Selector right a dual purpose. A.t the timethe Heading Lock button (Figure 1,
and left, control wheel should follow. Item 2) is in its "In" position, (which means the Directional
To check manual turn control comply with theabove inform- Gyro is in the circuit and controlling the heading) this knob
ation then push Heading Lock Button to "Out" position. Move serves as a Trim Knob. The purpose of the Trim Knob is to
Turn Trim Knob to right and left, control wheel should follow. enable the pilot to align the Directional Gyro with the called

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for heading. In the case of the Zero Heading Directional Gyro

the Trim Knob is used to make the zero line up directly behind
the lubber line, or in the case of the Course Selector, have the 1 2 3
Directional Gyro card align with the heading called for on the
Course Selector. The Trim Knob can also be used to increase
or decreasethe degree of bank when the turn has been madeby
the Directional Gyro. --

MAKING TURNS
Turning with the Directional Gyro. If the Zero Heading
Directional Gyro is installed, the turn is made to the desired
heading by simply caging the Directional Gyro and off setting
the Oo as many degrees as it is desired to turn. If a 1800 tyy,
is required, the Directional Gyro should be set to either 170° Figure 1. Console
or 190°, depending on which side the turn is to be made. By
the timethe Directional Gyro hasbeen set off 170oinone direc- HE ADING LOCK BUTTON
tion or the other, the aircraft will already have turned about
100 inthat direction, making the totalturn approximately 1800. The Heading Lock Button (Figure 2) serves only to either
If the Course Selector Directional Gyro is installed, simply get the Directional Gyro intothe circuit and have it control the
turn the Course Selector Knob in the direction the turn is de- aircraft (at which timethe Turn Trim Knob then functions as a
sired. Any number of degrees of turn can be made up to 180°. trim control) or to cut the Directional Gyro out of the circuit
The angle of bank during turns with the Directional Gyro (at which time the Turn Trim Knob functions as a turn control) .

canbeincreasedordecreased bytheuseofthe Turn Trim Knob. The Heading Lock Button can be pushed in; one time it will re-
A.t times it is desirable to make turns without regard to main in, the next time it is pushed in it will release and it is
heading or to hold in a continuous turn. This is accomplished noticed it now protrudes further out from the console face plate,
through the Turn Trim Knob (Figure 1, Item 1) however, the and a white groove can be seen in the knob. When this button
Heading Lock button (Figure 1, Item 2) must be in the "Out" is in the most inward position the Directional Gyro is in the
position. At the time the Heading Lock button is in the "Out" circuit and controls the heading of the aircraft.
position the Directional Gyro, (both Zero Heading or Course Inthe case ofthe Zero Heading Directional Gyro therewill
Selector), is out ofthe circuit and will not control the aircraft. be times such as climb outs, let downs or procedure turns
Turns to either side can be made by simply moving the Turn when it will be necessary to have the Directional Gyro set to
Trim Knob in the desired direction. The degree of bank will the compass heading and control the aircraft's path of flight
depend on the amount this knob is moved. Full right or left through the Turn Trim Knob. The Heading Lock Button would
rotation of this knob results in approximately a 200 to 250 bank. then be in its "Out" or most rearward position.

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